While Others Fell To Darkness
by Lux's Sister
Summary: Some fought for the truth. Ahsoka stands trial for her life while the rebels slowly discover the truth about the Lazarus Project. Enemies become even more twisted than before and only one thing is clear: the rebels are in for the fight of their lives. [AU. Sequel to While Others Found Success. Some minor characters are OOC. Rated T for alcohol consumption and conspiracy.]
1. Do You Wanna Buy Some Death Sticks?

**WHILE OTHERS FELL TO DARKNESS**

 **By Lux's Sister**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Clone Wars. I do own every character who is italicized in the "Cast of Characters" list.

 **EXPLANATION OF THE AU**

This story is a sequel to "While Others Followed Orders" and "While Others Found Success." If you have not read those stories, _please go read them now_ _._ I cannot stress this enough. This story will not make any sense unless you have read at least "While Others Found Success".

This AU has progressed to a point where it's quite hard for me to fully explain it without ruining the stories or omitting important details, so pretty much I'm just going to give a list of what you really need to know, and the cast of characters.

CAST OF CHARACTERS ( _italics indicate an OC)_

Ahsoka Tano

Lux Bonteri

Saw Gerrera

Steela Gerrera

General Tandin

Mina Bonteri

Hutch

 _John Bonteri- Lux's father, rescued Ahsoka in a time of need._

 _Tor- John's vicious superior officer_

 _Cooper- John's spineless coworker._

 _Sierra Bonteri- The youngest Bonteri child._

 _Hero Calvert- A rebel who witnessed King Dendup's attempt to murder Steela. She is the girl who yelled "Look!" at the end of "Tipping Points"._

 _Oswald Ruby- a rebel who videotaped Dendup's crime._

Mary Perfect Sue

 _Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera- an awful Mary Sue who swears revenge on the rebels for kicking her out of their house._

#1- Mina Bonteri, her husband John, and Steela Gerrera are all still alive. This is due to a government program called the Lazarus Project. The aim of the project was to get the public on the conspirators' side after an unknown event. General Tandin has been blackmailed into participating in the project by donating a kidney to a severely ill Steela, but switched sides after he learned the rebels hold no ill will toward him.

#2- Steela's fall was not an accident. King Dendup pushed her off the cliff, instead of her pushing him to safety. This event was witnessed by a rebel named Hero, and it was caught on video by Oswald Ruby.

#4- While Steela was being held prisoner, the government used Mary Sues in an effort to break her spirit. Currently, three of the worst Mary Sues are closing in on our heroes' location.

#5- Due to her injuries, Steela was being treated with the healing herb nysillin. Since her escape, she has been cut off from the drug and is going through withdrawal.

And now, I present "While Others Fell To Darkness"

 **CHAPTER ONE – DO YOU WANNA BUY SOME DEATH STICKS?**

" _Turning and turning in the widening gyre,_

 _The falcon cannot hear the falconer._

 _Things fall apart, the center cannot hold,_

 _Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."_

 _-W.B Yeats, "The Second Coming"._

 **JOHN**

When you go through an entire loaf of bread before Steela manages to keep anything down, that's when you know you're in trouble.

Mina has embarked on a single-minded quest to get some meat onto Steela's bones, but nysillin withdrawal isn't exactly conducive to that sort of thing. The aforementioned bread has been turned into dry toast, and Steela can't even keep that down.

I don't know which is worse: this or Ahsoka. With Ahsoka, it was fear and pain and crying, it was feedings that made her screech from terror. But at least we could do something, no matter how little, to make her better.

With Steela, we can't even feed her.

The sound of retching from the bathroom proves the point.

I pop my head into the half-open door. "Steela?"

Steela coughs. "Yes?"

"You all right? Where's Mina?" To my shock she's all alone, no Mina in sight. I go to her side.

She takes a deep breath. "I don't know. She might be in the bathroom."

"I take it this attempt didn't work out either?"

"No." Steela gets to her feet and winces.

I catch her beneath the shoulders. "Stay off your feet, kiddo."

"Thanks for the reminder," she winces, allowing me to pick her up. She's so much taller than Ahsoka I have to guide her head when I carry her through the doorway.

"I can't believe Tandin's still letting us crash here." She says.

"The long weekend's over tomorrow," I say. "I have to work. You're coming home with the rest of us."

"You really don't have to do that John."

"We do. You can't be left alone while Tandin's at work. If he skips, it'll look suspicious. If you don't mind bunking up with Sierra, then it'll work out fine."

I lay her in bed, and she tucks herself in.

"Thanks," she groans.

"Not a problem. This isn't my first rodeo. At least you're talking."

Steela shivers. "Did I miss a blanket or something?"

My blood turns cold.

"Let me feel your forehead…"

The back of my hand burns.

My face must change, because Steela says "Warm, right?"

"I wish it wasn't. Do your feet still hurt?"

"They haven't stopped hurting since before you came."

I am absolutely alarmed.

"Since when?"

She thinks for a while. "When I left Hero's house to check up on my friends."

"That long?"

She nods.

"Steela, you should have told somebody!"

"They couldn't do anything." She argues. "You can't."

I rub my temples. "Okay. Sit tight, rest up, and I'll get you when it's time to go."

 **MINA**

"Padme, calm down." I order. "You have to get a grip."

 _"Get a grip? Mina, my child is trapped like a rat, locked from a crime she didn't even commit!"_ Padme screeches.

"I understand and I too am worried, but you will not being able to help Ahsoka if you're panicking."

 _"Tell me right now that you wouldn't do the same if this was Lux or Sierra."_

Honestly, she's got me there. If this was my child, I would be bulldozing buildings to get to them.

 _"What do I do?"_ Padme begs.

Suddenly the refresher door creaks open, and I hear the sound of retching.

"Padme, hang on for a second." I set the phone down just before John runs past me to see to Steela.

 _He can handle it. He's dealt with worse._

"Never mind. All right, so tell me what charges Ahsoka is under."

 _"They think she bombed the Jedi Temple and killed some others involved."_ Padme sobs.

"Bombed…the Jedi Temple?!"

 _"Mina, haven't you been watching the news?"_

No, Padme. I have not been watching the news because I've been reunited with my son and daughter, and been caring for a very sick Steela Gerrera. Did I mention she too is alive?

But since I don't want to give Padme any more heart attacks than she's already having, I don't say that.

"Who is investigating this?"

Padme's voice is razor-bladed _"Admiral Tarkin."_

"Oh. I hate him." 

_"He's not listening to Anakin or me. It's like he's out to get her."_

"It's because he is." I say. "If Tarkin latches onto something, he doesn't let go. And currently, he's got his teeth firmly into Ahsoka."

 _"She wants to talk to Lux. Is he there?"_

"He just left this morning, en route for Coruscant." Note: I did not know about this until after Lux had already left and Sierra said "Mom, don't shoot the messenger, but Lux just went to Coruscant."

He is also not answering his phone, unless it comes from Saw's number. And that trick only worked once.

 _"I don't know what to do, Mina! She doesn't have a defense, and Tarkin's out to get her. The entire Senate wants someone to blame for this, they're going to kill an innocent girl!"_

"They are not going to kill her." I snap. "If this goes south, we will stage a rescue and get her over here. She is going to make it through this."

 _"I don't think we can win this trial with what we have."_ Padme cries.

I weigh my words carefully. "You're right. You can't. You don't have any direct evidence for her case. But what you do have is a red-hot determination to save your daughter, and that's all you need."

 _"How will that work if we don't have any evidence?"_

"Because if you don't have evidence, you'll make evidence."

 _"But isn't that illegal?"_

"Padme, mothers have a book of priorities. Our children come first every time." I look over my shoulder to see John carrying Steela. _Her feet must hurt again._

 _"I have to go talk to Ahsoka again. Please try to help me, Mina."_

"I'll do what I can." _However marginal that may be._ "I'll call you later, Padme."

I hang up the phone and intercept John as he leaves Steela and Sierra's room.

"She has a fever." He mutters.

"I'll give her something to bring it down."

"Who was that on the phone?"

I sigh. "Ahsoka's in big trouble."

"What's wrong?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I said, John."

 **LUX**

If my parents find out where I am right now, I'm going to be boiled alive.

I told Sierra to tell Mom I'd gone to Coruscant. She probably assumes that I'm going to watch Ahsoka's trial.

Yeah, not really. I don't plan on just watching the trial. I plan to help sway the verdict.

She didn't do it. I know she didn't do it. Ahsoka would never do something rash as bomb the Temple. She loves the Temple! And she loves kids, like the younglings killed in the blast.

Hey, she loves kids. I bet she would be a really great mom to our kids…

 _When we were in rebel base camp, Hero yanked me aside and slapped me across the face. "Quit making goo-goo eyes at the Jedi and focus!" she snapped._

Darn Hero, I really wish you were here right now. I need you to slap me a couple of times. _Especially_ as I walk into a seedy cantina.

This is why my parents are going to skin me alive if they ever find out. Their cardinal rule is pretty much _no seedy cantinas._ But seedy cantinas are also the best place to get information.

I walk up to the door and hand the bouncer my (fake) ID.

He narrows his eyes.

"You're George Washington?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Isn't George Washington a president?"

"My parents are history buffs."

The bouncer looks at the fake for a while.

"Kid, you aren't going to get anywhere with that name." he says. "And by law, I have to confiscate this, but I'm not going to call the cops."

I stalk away, heading for the next cantina. This time, I look for one with a droid bouncer, because I'm down to my last fake ID.

I figured that I'd want a backup identity in case "George Washington" fell through, so I came up with this one on the ship. Granted, this name is even dumber than the first one, but hopefully a droid won't detect it.

"Ferris Bueller?" it asks, looking at the fake.

"Yes, I'm Ferris Bueller."

The droid hands me back the fake. "Proceed."

I can't believe that actually worked.

I enter the cantina as smoothly as possible and sidle up to the bar.

I order a water, and turn to a girl sitting beside me.

"Hi. You watch the HoloNet? Do you by any chance-."

I was going to say "know anything about that bombing at the Temple", but I'm cut off by a splash of something acrid but sweet at the same time.

"I have a boyfriend, you perv!" the girl shrieks, slamming her empty drink glass on the bar and storming away.

 _Yeesh. Someone's had a few too many._

I use some napkins to wipe the girl's drink off my face and swivel to the person on my right. This one happens to be a guy.

"You know anything about the Temple bombing?" I ask.

The guy chuckles, and I spot a death stick lounging in the corner of his mouth.

"You wanna buy some death sticks?" he slurs.

I'm so discombobulated I briefly consider the purchase before my common sense slaps me in the face, saying _You don't want to be on death sticks._

"No thank you. Do you know anything about the Temple bombing?"

"Wanna buy some death sticks?" the dealer repeats.

I groan, and plant my face into my hands. Maybe if I buy the stupid death sticks, then he'll actually speak to me.

"Sure. Why not?" I mutter, digging into my wallet for a few credits. "One, please."

The dealer pockets my money and hands me one death stick. I try again.

"You have to have heard something about the Jedi Temple bombing, right?" I ask.

"S'all over the news," the dealer slurs. "They caught the chick who did it, this real nice-looking Togruta girl. All the pretty ones are the killers, seems."

I bite my lip. "What kind of evidence did they have on her?"

The dealer shrugs. "They've got some video of her choking the victim. But dude, you obviously haven't seen this girl. Those eyes, those _lips…"_

 _Do. Not. Kill. Him. He's just a sleaze, not an actual threat._ Shoulder Angel says.

 _He just dissed your girlfriend!_ Shoulder Devil yells.

For once in my life, I'm going to go with Devil.

I fix the dealer with a hard glare. "The reason I'm asking is because that is my _best friend,_ and-."

Suddenly, someone screams "it's the cops!"

The dealer freezes for a fraction of a second, then jumps out of his chair and runs for his life. I follow suit. I'm getting a lot of practice running from cops as of late.

 _Okay, so maybe cantinas are a bust. Come on Lux, where else can you go?_

I have an idea.

 _Oh no, you can't go in there without getting murdered!_

 _But it looks like it's my only shot._

 **(A/N: And here goes the final story in the "While Others" series! Thank you to Dragonfan47, Kasai1214, Starwarshobbitfics, and StarwarsRulz, for your reviews for the last chapter of the last story. They really helped in getting this first chapter out.**

 **On that note: Unlike the other stories, this one is not finished. So updates may be a little slower than before, but I will keep them as timely as possible. On that note: the number one thing that motivates me are reviews. Please leave one as you go, they make me happy and focused on the story, which means faster updates and longer chapters.**

 **So, please leave your thoughts. How well am I handling the Fugitive Arc on top of the rebels' story?)**


	2. Terror Is a Guy Named Rex

**CHAPTER TWO- "TERROR" IS A GUY NAMED REX**

 **STEELA**

I am so sick of hurling all over Tandin's and the Bonteris' house.

For one, puking takes a lot of energy out of you when you don't have much to spare.

Two, you get sick of leaning over the toilet while someone hovers behind you, asking you questions.

And three, it's very lonely. Except when Mina comes in to take my temperature or make me drink water.

I drink the water for a few reasons: I don't want a dehydration headache or an angry Mina. There's a reason the people of Onderon call Mina Senator Bon-Scary behind her back.

 _Get it together, Steela. You really should be getting out of Mina's hair. Just grit your teeth and…oh._

Mina brushes strands of my hair off my forehead, and my train of thought instantly switches tracks. _That feels nice, like something your mom would do._

 _…_

Kate Gerrera wasn't very touchy-feely, and it wasn't much different when Saw or I got sick. She hated illnesses. _You're sick? Please don't kiss me. I'll make you some chicken soup and let you watch cartoons._

The only time I remember something like this going on was when I was five. Both Saw and I caught a bug floating around our elementary school. When Dad came home that evening, he spotted Mom holding Saw over the toilet while I leaned against the sink holding my stomach.

" _Kate? What's going on here?"_

 _"Save yourself, it's too late for me. But first take Steela back to her room, I think she's done."_ Mom replied, still holding Saw.

Dad took me over to the couch so I was within sprinting distance of the bathroom and the kitchen trash, and relieved Mom on puke patrol. She sat next to me and I snuggled up against her.

 _"Are you feeling better?"_ she asked, petting my hair.

I nodded, and we stayed like that for a while until-

 _"Mommy, I-."_

Before I could even finish the sentence, Mom had my five-year-old self tucked under her arm like a football and was zooming me over to the wastebasket.

When she pulled back my hair, I finally finished it. _"I want my dolly!"_

 _"Why didn't you just say so?"_

…..

"Steela! Wake up, child!"

I open my eyes with a start. Mina leans over me, a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm up, I'm up. What's going on?"

"Steela, you were crying in your sleep. Is everything all right?"

I nod, and change the subject. "What can we do about Ahsoka?"

"…Don't worry about that, sweetie."

I know what that means.

I'm not five anymore. I'm sixteen. And this isn't my mother, it's Lux's.

My best friend in the world is on trial for her life, and there's nothing I can do. I can't even get off a stupid healing herb without throwing up my guts.

And I hate everything about it.

 **AHSOKA**

Padme returns after getting off the phone with Mina.

"What did she say?" I ask sullenly.

Padme sits down and I wrap my arms around her. She sighs. "She's going to do what she can. But from what I've gathered, it isn't much. There were some noises in the background."

"No wonder. She's probably still taking care of Steela, who's going through nysillin withdrawal."

Padme pulls back, and looks me square in the face.

"Isn't Steela your friend who died five months ago on Onderon?"

 _Me and my big fat mouth._

Padme's eyes widen. "Oh my force. Ahsoka, is she alive?" she whispers.

I roll my eyes, and nod slightly.

"For the same reasons Mina is alive?"

I nod again.

Padme covers her mouth. "So this isn't an isolated incident?"

"No. The king is doing something. Steela said it was called the Lazarus Project. They're faking people's deaths and keeping them captive until something happens. It's supposed to be a PR move."

"I see." Padme lies.

"Can I call Lux?" I ask. I really need to talk to him…

Padme nods. "Don't tell Tarkin." She says as she hands over her phone.

I dial Lux's phone, and he doesn't pick up. Then I try the home phone.

 _"You've reached the Bonteris. This is Sierra speaking."_ Sierra chirps.

"Hi Sierra. Can I talk to Lux?" I ask cheerily.

Sierra sounds confused. _"I thought he was with you."_

"No, he said he was with you."

And that's when it hits us at the same time.

 _"Oh, kriffing kriff."_

"Oh my force, where is he?" I cry. "He's probably doing something with the Lazarus Project."

 _"Or doing something phenomenally stupid!"_ Sierra cries. _"I'll call you right back!"_ and she hangs up.

If those text messages from Carlaac were any indication, Lux isn't going to be picking up anytime soon.

…

 _"What is this?" I demanded, picking up Lux's phone and sifting through his messages, because I was still steaming about the faked kiss._

 _"It's just my phone," Lux replied, making a grab for it. I sidestepped him, and brought up the messages from someone named "Sierra."_

 _I raised an eye marking. "Lux, is this your sister?"_

 _"If it's Sierra, then yes."_

 _I read further. "You left your sister on Onderon? Alone? How old is she?"_

 _Lux shuffled his feet._

 _"Twelve," he admitted._

 _"Twelve? You abandoned your twelve-year-old sister so you could join a terrorist group?"_

 _"I didn't abandon her!" he shouted. "The only reason I didn't do this sooner is because I needed to get custody."_

 _I read another message. "This last message is just your name. All caps. She's all alone, and she's scared."_

 _"Why would she be scared?"_

 _I couldn't believe him. "Maybe because you could be lying facedown in a ditch for all she knows?_

 _Lux sighed. "Look Ahsoka, she knows I'm taking care of some personal business and I'm going to send for her soon."_

 _I almost choked on my tongue. "You're going to bring her here?"_

 _"Where else would I take her? She can't live alone."_

 _"Lux, pull your head out of the clouds! A twelve-year-old can't live in a terrorist camp!" I hissed. "If you're not going to stop this because, I don't know, the Death Watch are murderers, then do it for her. Where's she going to go to school? What's going to happen to her if she doesn't have school? If her brother's barely around, who's going to raise her?_

 _"And if the courts find out about this," I continued. "They'll take away your custody. You'll never see her again. Do you really want that?"_

 _Lux snorted, but I could tell reality had finally hit home._

 _Let's hope it hits home now._

 **LUX**

I silenced my phone a while ago. I don't want it going off while I'm here, because my method of entry was not exactly legal.

Finding the barracks was easy. I just followed the sound of talking.

I look up at the plaque over the barracks door. It reads TORRENT COMPANY.

 _Yeah, I'm in the right place_.

I knock. Someone plods over to the door and slides open a peephole.

Calculating brown eyes stare at me, and then the peephole slams shut.

 _"Rex, it's that kid!"_

Silence falls.

My blood pressure increases tenfold.

The door opens again. This time, three men in blue and white armor fill the frame.

One of them Captain Rex. One of them has a 5 tattooed on their forehead. And the last one has black hair cut short.

"What do you want?" Rex demands.

I shrink about an inch.

"My name is Lux Bonteri. I was here to ask if you had any information about Ahsoka's case."

"Fives, bring him in!"

Fives grabs me by the front of the shirt and drags me in. Another clone slams the door shut.

And every single one gets off their bunks and starts circling me.

 _God, I'm too young to die._

"So," Fives asks. "Why are you asking about Ahsoka anyway?"

"B-because I love her."

"Oooh," somebody else taunts. "You _like_ , like her."

"What makes you think you're good enough for her? You're just a boy." Another sneers.

And then Rex grabs me by the shirt again. "Tell me. When you went to Carlaac, did you think that we wouldn't be taking it up with you later?"

I pull back. "Carlaac was the single greatest mistake I have made in my life. I've made peace with Ahsoka over it. It's in the past, and I'm done with it!"

Someone called Kix goes next. "Really. Now, do you mind telling us why you started dating our sister, and didn't come ask for our permission?"

I make a mental note to never, ever give any of Sierra's future boyfriends the third degree. Unless they really deserve it.

"The whole point of a secret relationship is that nobody knows about it. I'm pretty sure if an entire legion knew about it, Ahsoka could get kicked out of the Order. I would _never_ do that to her! But when the time comes that I ask her for her hand, I will come get your and General Skywalker's blessing." I hope the last line glossed over enough.

Rex comes closer, almost toe to toe with me. "You would marry her?"

"If she wanted to, of course I would marry her!" I reply.

Rex gives me the staredown for a minute, and then smiles.

"Hey Hardcase, pour the kid a drink."

I blink. "What?"

Fives claps me on the back. "You passed our test. You don't get pummeled into the pavement."

I thank every god of every religion imaginable that I passed the test.

Fives hands me a flask, and I take a swig.

 _Great. In the space of a day, I have snuck to Coruscant, entered a cantina, bought death sticks, broke into a clone barracks, and I'm now drinking alcohol. When Mom finds out, I'm grounded till I'm forty._

 _But…_ I give Fives his flask back with a look of confusion. "But it's just soda."

He laughs. "Kix, it's funny when shinies find out it's not actually booze!"

The others laugh, and names are tossed around. They don't really make the galaxy's greatest effort to learn mine. They just call me "Ahsoka's boyfriend."

I finally make my way to somebody's footlocker and sit down. Rex plops on the facing footlocker.

"So, you want details on Ahsoka's case?"

"That would be the reason I'm here, Captain."

Rex nods. "It's gotten worse, Bonteri. Now they think she's killed two clones in her escape from prison."

"What? Why?"

"The cause of death was a lightsaber strike." He says, snatching Fives' flask of soda and chugging.

Fives points at him, confused.

"I'm pretending it's whiskey, vod." Rex grumbles, slamming the flask down.

"You want whiskey, Captain?" another clone asks. He flips up the top of his footlocker, revealing a working still.

My eyes bug out. "I didn't know you guys were in the moonshining business."

"The Republic pays us peanuts." Still Guy says, grabbing Fives' flask and pouring some of his whiskey in before handing it to Rex.

Rex takes a sip and hands the flask back to Fives. Most of Torrent Company is now absorbed in Still Guy's footlocker, leaving us to have a semi-private conversation.

"I came to Coruscant to help, Captain. What can I do?"

Rex coughs.

"At this point, it's up to General Skywalker and Senator Amidala. We just have to trust them to get Ahsoka acquitted."

"Which isn't going to happen." I mutter quietly enough so the others won't hear me. "Not with this kind of evidence."

He looks at me. "Listen. When she was sick, I was worried about her. But at least I knew your parents were there looking out for her. "Skywalker and Amidala are her own parents. Trust them."


	3. The Big Kahuna

**CHAPTER THREE: THE BIG KAHUNA**

 **STEELA**

Tandin hands me a paper cup filled with a pinkish liquid.

"Here. It's the same thing I gave your brother after the Separatists tortured him. Hopefully it'll perk you up same as him." He says

"I really don't want to puke all over you, Tandin." I fret, cautiously taking the cup.

"Don't worry. It's designed so weak prisoners can keep it down." He reassures. "You shouldn't have a problem."

I take a sip. The liquid has a mild fruity taste, but nothing cloying. And after a few seconds, it gives a pretty big jolt of energy.

"Ever thought of going into the energy drink business?" I joke after gulping down what's left.

Tandin turns to the other occupants of the room and takes a bow.

"Ladies and gentlemen, she's back."

A couple people applaud. Mina's too tired to do anything but give a thumbs-up.

Poor Mina. She's been taking care of me, trying to help with the trial, and getting her family back together all at the same time. Now that I can keep fluids down (Thank you, thank you, thank you Tandin) it'll take a load off her shoulders.

And then I get an idea. While the adults are occupied, I wave Saw over.

"Saw, there isn't a wheelchair lying around, is there?"

…..

One afternoon when I was in the hospital, Tandin came down to my room with a hair comb and asked me if I'd like him to do my hair.

"Why?" I asked. He had already given me a kidney, he should be working instead of deepening the debt I owed him.

"I thought you might like a visitor." He replied.

Code for: "Dendup isn't above making me comb your hair to remind me of the crime going on beneath the palace floors."

But it didn't seem like he minded too much. He propped me up and started to work on the tangles. I winced a little at the tugging.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I usually don't comb girls' hair."

"Try starting at the ends and going up." I suggested.

Once Tandin figured out how to comb my hair without murdering my scalp, he did his best to be gentle and soothing.

"You can close your eyes if you want," he suggested, running the comb through my hair. "It doesn't look very pretty."

"Thank you," I said after a while. "I never got the chance to thank you before, for the kidney."

"You are very welcome, my dear." He said, just as the comb caught on a tangle.

After he combed my hair, Tandin came down to have his lunch in my room every day. I don't think Dendup made him do it. I think he just didn't want me to be lonely. When Dendup finally caught on, I was thrown into the cell with the Mary Sues.

A king believes in kindness and compassion. He is gentle, good, and fair. All the qualities that Dendup _said_ he had…

I think Tandin actually has them.

….

Saw wrestles a wheelchair through the Bonteris' back door about a half hour later. John helps him put me in it.

"Saw…" I say, staring at the words PROPERTY OF SACRED HEART HOSPITAL emblazoned across the back of the chair in huge block letters.

"I'll cover them up." Saw shrugs.

"I have duct tape," Sierra offers.

Sierra covers PROPERTY OF SACRED HEART HOSPITAL in light blue duct tape while Saw and John figure out how to get the wheelchair's footrests in place.

"There." John pats the side of the chair. "You're good to go. Just please don't give Mina too many heart attacks."

 **SIERRA**

After I finish affixing the duct tape to Steela's wheelchair, Dad hands me a manila envelope full of papers. I duck into my room and start sorting through them.

Steela wheels her way into our room and raises her eyebrow.

"What are those?"

"Tandin asked his coworkers to send him all the details on the Lazarus Project," I say, sifting through the documents and forming piles. "He had the office staff send it to a fax machine at my dad's work."

"Please tell me they didn't say 'send this to John Bonteri.'"

"No. It's addressed to Cooper. According to Tandin, they're filling Cooper in on my dad's situation. Mind helping me sort these?"

Steela puts half the papers on her lap and nods to my bare bedroom wall.

"Got any tape? We should hang them up so we can see them all at the same time."

Thirty minutes and a roll of tape later, all the documents are hanging on my bedroom wall.

"What do we do?" I ask.

"I'm going to look at them and try to find any connections."

Saw walks in and sees the wall.

"What the heck are you doing?" he demands.

I throw up my hands. "It works in crime shows."

Saw approaches the board. "In the cop shows, they also say everything out loud."

"Beats what we've already been doing." Steela mutters. "All right. The first Lazaruses are attempted: Chairman Papanoida's daughters. They were kidnapped, and files indicate that a report was to be sent out claiming they'd been found dead. Fortunately for them, Senator Chuchi rescued them before the project went into action."

I skim over the file in my hand. "Second instance seems to have been successful…" I look up from the papers. "Guys, can we _not_ do anything for this one?"

"Who is it?" Saw asks.

"Miraj Scintel. She ran a slave empire."

"Then why'd they take her?"

"Maybe because she decided to make Ahsoka dangle in a cage just for fun and giggles?"

"Motion seconded." Saw announces. "All right. The third Lazarus is an Agnes Syndulla. This one was effective, too."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Steela asks.

Saw looks at her. "You're thinking of Cham Syndulla, we researched him during the rebellion. He led freedom fighters on Ryloth, and apparently this Agnes girl is his niece." He glances back down at the file for a minute. "She was taken during the Battle of Ryloth."

I blink. "But that was over two years ago."

"If they're using Mary Sues, she might have given in." Steela muses. "I was only in there for five months and they were really getting to me."

Saw shakes his head. "They're not using the Sues. Apparently she's patient enough to handle them."

"Somebody deserves a medal." I mutter.

Steela's head snaps up.

"Oh my God."

"What?"

Steela wheels herself over to the wall, picks up a marker and starts to write on the pictures.

Under the Papanoidas, she writes PANTORA.

Miraj, ZYGERRIA.

Me and my family, ONDERON

Agnes, RYLOTH.

And her own photograph, ONDERON.

She wheels herself back, admiring her handiwork.

I look at Saw, confused.

"Don't look at me. She's the one who does all the planning!" Saw protests.

Steela swivels her chair around. "You don't see it?"

Saw and I give her a blank stare.

"Um…see what?"

Steela rests her face in her hands as if to say _I am surrounded by idiots._

"I'm going to call Hutch and Hero. You guys get Lux on a hologram. They need to see this."

 **SAW**

When we get Hutch and Hero on a hologram, I set a disk on the table next to their holograms and punch in Lux's number.

"Is he going to answer?" Sierra wonders.

"He'd better," I reply. "This secret meeting only can last as long as Mina's at the grocery store."

John and Mina have been excluded from this meeting. For obvious, Lux-related reasons.

There's a buzzing sound, and suddenly Lux's holographic image pops up.

 _"Hi, Saw."_

"Dude, do you have any idea how dead you are?" I ask. "Your mom hit the roof when she found out you were gone."

 _"It can't be any worse than Carlaac."_

Sierra looks over her shoulder and says offhandedly "Mom says when you get home, you're grounded."

Lux rubs the back of his neck. _"I expected that."_

"I'm not running interference for you this time."

 _"Come on, Sierra. Please?"_

"No. Where are you?"

Suddenly, there's a sound coming from Lux's hologram. A very drunkclone staggers into view.

 _"Are these Ahsoka's friends? Hi, Ahsoka's friends!"_ He slurs, waving at us.

Steela waves back. Lux gently grabs the clone's shoulders and turns him around.

 _"Blitz, how about you go back to your brothers?"_ he suggests.

 _"Yayyy…"_ Blitz stumbles off

"What was that about?" Tandin asks.

 _"This is what happens when you give a bunch of stressed-out soldiers a still and a military discount at the supermarket."_ Lux responds. _"I'm pretty sure Captain Rex and I are the only sober ones here. Did you know that most of them are silly drunks?"_

Steela rolls her eyes. "This is _exactly_ why I only let Dono buy one bottle of spirits for all of us."

Hutch glares at her. _"I thought you were just being cheap."_

Steela looks like she couldn't care less whether Hutch thought she was just being cheap. "Anyway. On to the matters at hand."

The implications of Blitz's appearance dawn on Sierra. "Lux, you're in a clone barracks?"

Steel taps her yardstick three times. "Ahem?"

"Sorry."

Steela keeps on rolling. "Vying for precious space on Sierra's wall are several pictures. If you didn't realize it from my God-awful driver's license picture, they are the Lazaruses."

She wheels herself over to the wall and whacks the first picture with the yardstick. "First up are Chi Eckway and Che Amanwe Papanoida. They're from Pantora. Next is Miraj Scintel, the Queen of Zygerria and a generally awful person."

 _THWAP!_ She plows the yardstick onto Queen Psycho's picture with a ferocity that makes me jump.

"Followed quickly by her carbon opposite Mina Bonteri and her family, from Onderon…"

She circles the Bonteris' picture with the ruler.

"Up next is Agnes Syndulla, the niece of Ryloth's Cham Syndulla…"

 _THWAP!_

"And lastly is the most important person…me." she smirks.

I roll my eyes. _You wish, sis._

"Okay, so what's the big deal here?" I ask.

Steela waves the yardstick. "Don't you see? Four of these Lazaruses came from a planet other than Onderon. Dendup couldn't have had anything to do with those!"

Hero's jaw drops. _"What? Are you saying-?"_

"This isn't just another of Dendup's schemes. This is a galaxy-wide project. Dendup's just another pawn in the game."

"If it's not Dendup, then who's behind this?" Sierra queries.

"If I knew, I would tell you. But these documents don't give any identifying details. Just fake names."

 _"How do you know they're fake names?"_ Hero asks.

Sierra snorts. "Because they're even dumber than 'Taylor Swift.'"

There's silence until Hutch breaks it.

 _"Hold it. During the commercials for the University of Onderon game, I watched this show called 'Criminal Minds.'"_ He says. _"It's about cops who study behavior to catch criminals. Could we do something like that?"_

 _"We're not calling the guy behind this 'the unsub.'"_ Hero snaps.

Suddenly, a clone's voice screams _"I AM THE BIG KAHUNA!"_

Lux looks over his shoulder. _"Oh Force, they're drinking beer out of Rex's helmet now."_

"Let's call the guy 'the Big Kahuna." I suggest.

Steela throws up her hands. "Fine. Whatever. Big Kahuna it is."

Tandin clears his throat. "Militiamen are taught to look for sequences in crimes when we have an unidentified subject of an investigation. In this case, there's a very strong victimology."

"I'm sorry, what's victimology?" Sierra asks.

"Simply put, it's the study of what the victims have in common. If we can discover why they were picked, then we can better understand the Big Kahuna." Tandin replies. "If we showed these pictures to a stranger, they would be able to pick one thing, right off the bat."

 _"All the instances of the Project involve women."_ Hero realizes.

"Not just any women. _Young_ women." Tandin clarifies. "Whoever is selecting the victims either doesn't like them, or needs them for a later stage in the project. But what's more is that these women and girls are all related to an important figure."

 _"The Papnoidas are Baron Papanoida's daughters, Scintel is a queen herself, my mom is a Senator, and Agnes' uncle and Steela led rebellions!"_ Lux blurts out.

"Exactly."

"But we already know this is a public relations tactic," Steela says. "What else?"

Tandin rubs his chin. "Steela, with a victimology this specific, the Big Kahuna wouldn't leave anything up to chance. He _selected_ you. There's a very good chance that you've met him before."

Suddenly, Blitz staggers back into view.

 _"Ahsoka's boyfriend!"_ he cries. _"Ahsoka's boyfriend, you're going to be our designated driver! We're going on a beer run!"_

 _"I'm doing something important. Can Rex drive you?"_ Lux begs.

 _"No!"_ Blitz shrieks, shaking like a little kid who's been given an unlimited supply of candy. _"Rex had a beer! You are the designated driver!"_

Lux takes a deep breath. _"Okay. Go wait in the car while I finish this up."_

Blitz takes off, but through the filters I can hear drunken singing of the song "Beer Run."

 _"B- double E- double R -U-N, BEERRUN!"_

 _"I have to go before they wake up the entire planet. Call me if you find anything."_ Lux mutters, and his hologram fizzles out.

"Hutch and Hero, get here as quickly as you can." Tandin says. "Travel under false names, pay cash, and change flights multiple times. If the Big Kahuna is as organized as we think he is, we need to throw him off the trail as best we can." Hutch and Hero fizzle out, and he turns to Steela.

"As I was saying before, you probably have met him. If you remember anything, you can help us find him."

"But I don't." she says.

"Something else militiamen are taught is that our subconscious sometimes remembers things that we don't. There are ways to access those memories." He says. "Steela, your memories might be our only hope. Will you let us try to unlock them?"

Steela nods.

"Okay."

 **PADME**

I don't cry where Ahsoka can hear. I wait until I'm alone in my office to break down.

 _Nobody is listening to me! They don't care how weak the evidence is. They don't care about the fallacies, they want a scapegoat for this bombing. They want my baby dead!_

Shaking with sobs, I bury my head in my arms.

 _She's just a little girl. If a Separatist prison guard who doesn't like Jedi can see that, then why can't the Senate see that they're going to kill a little girl?_

 _Unless…_

I raise my head from my arms.

Unless they don't want her dead.

They just want us to think she's dead.

My blood runs cold. Ahsoka is well-known throughout the galaxy. Could this be a setup for the Lazarus Project?

No.

They will not turn my girl into a Lazarus.

There's only one way to help Ahsoka's case at this point: to shock the Senate, to distract them long enough for Anakin to find the real culprit. And I have the perfect weapon.

I quickly boot up the computer, going madly to work on a speech. There's a small debate before Ahsoka's trial; the perfect time for me to drop the bombshell.

 _Members of the Senate. With all eyes fixed on the war, we have neglected to discover a major crime unfolding among our allied worlds. A crime of deception, of false imprisonment, of "death" that is not death._

 _It has come to my attention that some we believe are dead, are in fact still with us today._

As I type, there's a tiny ping at the back of my mind.

 _There's a child involved in this, Padme. Somebody else's little girl. If you do this, you very well could be signing her death warrant._

I shake it off.

As a mother, I have a book of priorities. My daughter comes before Steela Gerrera every time.

 **(A/N: And the plot thickens. But before I get into the good stuff, I have some announcements to make.**

 **First, I do not own Agnes. She belongs to Kasai1214, who was nice enough to let me use her. Unless she tells me otherwise, pretend this didn't happen if you're reading one of her stories (which are awesome). I also don't own the song the clones are singing. It's "Beer Run," by Todd Snider. It plays on a radio show broadcast where I live.**

 **Secondly, Steela is not the only person who's sick…Yup. I am not feeling too well, and that's going to affect my writing. So please be patient with me if future updates are slower and/or shorter, I promise I'll make up for it when I feel better.**

 **Thanks to starwarshobbitfics, Kasai1214, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. Speaking of those, please review! They make me so happy, and they help get chapters out quicker. )**


	4. In Which Lux is So Designated

**CHAPTER FOUR: THE BIG KAHUNA**

 **JOHN**

Tandin pulls me aside. "Mr. Bonteri, may I ask you a favor?"

"Of course."

"I need you to perform a cognitive interview on Steela."

I blink. "A cognitive interview? General, I'm just a prison guard."

"You work in interrogation, don't you?"

"Sometimes. I won't go near the torture chambers, but I will talk to people." I make a face. "Sometimes I need to nurse them, just so they can talk again. My commanding officer can go a bit overboard."

"I can relate," He says "I had to give Saw an energy drink so he could get his wits about him."

"But a cognitive interview? General Tandin, I've never done one before. According to the kids, you did one on Hero Calvert. You actually know what you're doing."

"Yes. But since I was at the crime scene, the interview would be biased. I would be unconsciously forcing my perception of the situation onto Steela. You weren't there." He replies. "Will you just try?"

I nod. "Alright. Where is she?"

"In your wife's office."

Good thing Mina's still out running errands. I make my way over to Mina's office, finding Steela in her wheelchair.

"Hey, John."

"Good afternoon, Steela. I take it you know why I'm in here?"

 **STEELA**

I cast a glance at Tandin hovering outside the doorway. "You're interviewing me."

"Yes, but has Tandin told you that this is a different type of interview? It's not necessarily about what you saw, but everything that was going on at the time." I nod. "Okay, good. Now I want you to close your eyes, and go back to the first thing you remember after falling off the cliff."

I close my eyes, and concentrate.

"You don't know where you are," John says. "There's medical personnel around you. You're scared."

A memory of a cold, utter darkness presses into me.

"What do you hear?" John asks. "What do you smell?"

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Beeping. Servos whirring. I smell…antiseptic?"

"Are you in the hospital?" John asks.

 _There's something soft beneath me, and a thin blanket that smells of bleach. There's the cloying, too-clean smell, and a beeping of equipment._

"Yes."

"What do you see?"

 _Darkness._

"I can't. I think my eyes are closed."

"All right." John replies. "Is anyone in the room with you?"

 _Whirring servos, instruments tinkering with something on my arms._

"A medical droid."

 _A door whooshes._

" _You will be impressed. She's very popular among the people."_

"No. Wait. There are people talking, they just walked in."

"Tell me what they're saying," John orders.

 _"Truly, King Dendup? She's hardly more than a child." Someone else says in a clipped voice._

 _"She is a strong girl, I assure you. A born leader." Dendup replies._

"One of them is King Dendup. I don't know about the other."

"Keep talking." John says.

 _"Feel free to rouse her. She's heavily medicated; she won't remember a thing." Dendup chuckles, patting my shoulder._

 _Someone grabs my face, jerking it a little too hard._

 _My eyes open._

"He's got my face, and my eyes are opened."

"Focus on the strange man's face. What does he look like?"

 _A blurry image stares down at me, still holding my face._

"He's human. A male." I grimace. "I'm sorry, John. I was drugged, it's hard to remember."

"Focus. How old is he?"

 _The face leans closer to me, still fuzzy._

"Early thirties. He has brown hair. Light skin."

"Light like Mandalorian? Light like me?"

"Light like Mina! He's tall, too."

"What do you feel? _How_ do you feel?"

 _Dendup smiles and squeezes my shoulder. "Hello, Miss Gerrera. Welcome back to the land of the living."_

 _The other man releases my face. "Quite literally. You're sure she won't remember this?"_

 _Dendup gestures to the IVs lining my arms. "With all this, and such injuries too? Why don't we ask her? She can't even raise her head! Will you remember us, Miss Gerrera?"_

"Thirsty, heavy, lost…probably from the drugs. Scared."

 _Scared is an understatement. I am absolutely, mortally terrified._

"Remember they can't hurt you anymore. I'm right here with you. Concentrate on the memory."

 _The other man fixes me with a terrible, evil look. "You will do nicely, Miss Gerrera."_

 _"Do you know how many people showed up to her funeral?" Dendup chuckles. "Nearly the whole city. If that's not influence, I don't know what is."_

 _"Yes, do as you wish with her."_

 _"Of course."_

"The other guy left Dendup in charge of me." I squeeze my eyes shut. Come on Steela! Is it really that hard to concentrate on one singular memory?

 _"Don't worry, child. You will be well taken care of…for now." the man says, tugging on one of my curls before cuing the medical droid to approach my IVs._

"He pulled my hair. They're putting something in my IV."

And that's when I dissolve like a popsicle dropped in a volcano.

 _"John help me, please! They're going to kill me!"_

Saw and Tandin come blasting into the room as John shakes me, hard.

"Snap out of it, kid! We're all done here." He says, handing me over to my brother.

"What the hell?" Saw demands.

"These things tend to happen during a cognitive interview." Tandin says, "Unfortunately, we forgot one of the side effects of nysillin withdrawal is paranoia."

"But it helped," John says. "Good job, Steela. We have some solid information now."

"Like what?" Saw asks.

"The man from her memory is more than likely the Big Kahuna. And he sounds an awful lot like my former commanding officer, Tor."

 **LUX**

There are several types of drunk clones. First, we have drunks like Echo, who cried when Fives dropped a bottle because he was afraid its feelings would be hurt.

Then we have angry drunks, like Kix. We had to pull him off a shiny who apparently tried to ditch his vaccinations last week.

Next up are the hardcore drunks, like Still Guy. Ten beers? Not a problem.

And lastly are the silly drunks. They're the most annoying. Unfortunately for me, most of the people in my car are silly drunks.

Rex sits in my passenger seat. He's more buzzed then plastered like the others are.

In the backseat, Fives is leading Hardcase, and Jesse in an off-key rendition of "Beer Run."

" _All you need is a ten and a five, your car key-."_

" _And a sober driver!"_ Hardcase sings, pointing at me. _"Lux is the maaaaan!"_

"Lux is so designated!" Jesse shrieks.

"Yeah, yeah." I mutter, pulling in to the supermarket parking lot. I have no desire to do the walk of shame into the store, so I turn to Rex and say "You're on your own. Get the beer."

"Why can't you go?" Jesse slurs.

"I'm not old enough, and no cashier in their right mind will sell to you." I reply, leaning back in my seat.

"We're gonna go buy beer!" Fives yells, and jumps out the door.

"Yeah!" the other two agree, and jump out of the car.

"No!" I beg, but they've already run into the store.

I sigh, unbuckle my seat belt, and run after them. _If anyone asks, I'm their taxi driver._ I decide.

I enter the supermarket just in time to see Rex approach the cash register with a case of beer in each hand. The others follow him, clutching candy bars as if their lives depend on it.

Suddenly, Jesse's eyes widen.

" _Vod._ Check it." He says, pointing at some other customers.

I follow his point, and my blood turns to slush.

 _Oh my Force. Oh, I'm not seeing this._

The clones are pointing at two young women standing by the diet energy drink aisle. But these young women are no _normal_ young women.

The first one has long, shiny blonde hair that falls in perfect waves down her back. Her eyes are bright, sparkling sapphires, so lovely and deep you could get lost in them forever. Her body is anatomically perfect, and her skin is beautifully tanned to the point that it almost glows. She wears a white crop top with a single short sleeve, a pair of jean shorts, and high-heeled boots.

The second one scares me the worst, because I know her. The color-changing hair, the voice like music, the dittering speech…

It's Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera.

 _How is that even possible? How'd she get here?_

 _Why do I even care? I've got to get the clones out of this place!_

I run up to the clones standing in the line. "Come on, guys!" I say, prodding them over to self-checkout and scanning the cases of beer myself while they stare enraptured at the Sues.

When the attendant comes over, Rex doesn't even look at him to show his ID. He just gives him the card.

The machine takes our money, I shove the beer into Jesse's and Fives' arms, and herd them out of the store.

"Those girls were so pretty!" Hardcase gushes.

"Like the suns!" Fives agrees.

"They're Mary Sues." I mutter, but they don't hear me.

Oh well. They're so plastered, they won't remember it in the morning. And I can get back to helping with Ahsoka's trial.

We pull back into the barracks. As the guys get out with their beers, I call Sierra.

The phone rings for a while, and then Sierra picks up.

" _This had better be the fastest phone call ever. Steela's distracting Mom."_

"Sierra, tell Saw the Sues are here on Coruscant. They might have something to do with Ahsoka's trial."

" _Or the Lazarus Project."_

"True enough. I'm going to check it out in the morning. I'm going to call you tomorrow night. If I don't, I'm in trouble. Can you do that?"

" _Yeah…oh great. Mom's coming! Talk to you later!"_ she says, and hangs up.

I close my eyes.

 _Now is the time to come up with a plan for how the heck you're going to take on Mary Sues._

 **VELVET SPARKLES**

When the clones and Lux "Super-Hot" Bonteri leave, I squeal.

"That was them, Mary Perfect Sue!"

Mary Perfect Sue squeals, too. "I just knew they'd be coming in, Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera!"

"Now we have to follow them to get my totally justified revenge on my brother and sister, even if nobody else in the galaxy thinks it's justified!" I cheer.

Mary Perfect Sue buys some alcoholic drinks for us, even though we're too young. We don't even need a fake ID. The clerk just lets us buy them because we're so hot.

With the drinks in hand, we get into our totally inconspicuous luxury sports car and drive off after the clones.

 **(A/N: Cue the return of the Mary Sues! I almost missed making fun of them. Just in case you didn't see my disclaimer in "While Others Found Success," please realize that I'm not bashing any particular character except my own. I am simply bashing the concept of Mary Sue. So don't flame me.**

 **Thank you again to starwarshobbitfics, Kasai1214, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews, as well as everyone who sent me get well soon messages. I feel a lot better now.**

 **Please drop a review as you go. They mean a lot to me!)**


	5. Lux Bonteri's On Line Two!

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

 **AHSOKA**

Something's stirring in the Senate, that much is clear.

Tarkin hasn't popped his head in to torment me for a day. Come to think of it, neither has Padme.

The little alarm bells going off in my head scream _this is really bad!_

But honestly, what am I going to do about it? I'm in jail, and I can't try to escape again. If I do, I'll look even guiltier than I already do.

One of the guards knocks on the door.

"You have a visitor, Former Padawan Tano." He announces.

The door whooshes open, and Rex walks in.

"Rex?"

Rex runs to me. "Ahsoka, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"The Republic isn't above using…advanced interrogation techniques." He says.

"You mean torture."

Rex starts pacing. "Force, I think you were safer in Tor's prison! At least John was there to look out for you."

John.

Oh, thank the Force for John.

I would never have made it out of the prison alive if it weren't for him. And if everything he and Mina says is correct, he got there just as I was being put on the torture table.

I remember the cold. The gentleness in his voice and his hands, wrapping me in his jacket. Holding me close so I wouldn't freeze to death, even though I fought him as hard as I could. Luckily for both of us, that wasn't saying much.

" _Please," he begged, trying to spoon feed me. "Please, sweetie. You need to eat something. Are you afraid there's something in it?"_

 _John may as well have been asking the question to a brick wall, because I couldn't speak. But I did whine, which apparently means "Yes" in sick person-ese_

" _There isn't, I swear. I'll eat some if you want me to. I have kids, my son's just about your age. I'm not Tor. I don't hurt children._

" _Force, you're too young for this. You're just a little kid."_

 _I ate the rations. It wouldn't have mattered anyway: in that state, John could overpower me with barely any effort. Apparently, I broke down crying after he finished feeding me._

" _Please don't cry! If Tor finds out what I'm doing, we're both done for." He soothed, bundling me in his jacket again._

 _I didn't know his name, or that he was the father of the man I love, but I knew he would take care of me._

"Honestly, I do too. I'm pretty sure Tarkin's going after me with more ferocity than Tor."

Rex clenches his fist and mutters something about "Tarkin" and "Citadel," and "lava pit."

"He doesn't like you," he says at normal volume. "At the Citadel, he voiced some serious doubts about your capability as an officer…even after you saved his life."

I'm kind of regretting saving Tarkin's life right now, but I don't say that out loud.

"You've been good to us, Commander." He says, smiling thinly. "As a commander, and as a sister."

"You've been the best men, and the best brothers I could ask for."

Rex reaches out to hug me, and presses his lips close to my ear, speaking so quietly the speakers won't pick it up.

"Your friend is in trouble," he whispers.

"Who? Barriss?" I ask.

"No. It's the other one, the rebel girl." He says. "The Onderonian."

I almost choke on my own spit. _"Steela?"_ I whisper.

It's as if the lightbulb goes off. "Yes, that was her name. Steela…"

 _But how does Rex know Steela's still alive? We were supposed to keep this under wraps._

But before I can ask, he fills me in.

"You should tell your Nubian Senator to shut her mouth about secret government projects while among political figures."

 _Padme? Padme is the leak? Oh my force, what has she done? I need to call Lux! Somebody has to warn John and Mina!_

"Rex, go." I whisper. "Get her to safety. Padme's doing all she can here, but Steela's sick! She can't take care of herself, and if John and Mina don't know what's coming…" Oh Force, what's going to happen to Saw, and Tandin, and _Lux,_ and…Force, I don't know if Sierra can defend herself, but I know that the whole family will go down protecting her.

 _I should never have told Padme about the Lazarus Project!_

"Ahsoka, I'm not leaving you. Your boyfriend was supposed to come with me today, but when he heard about what was happening, he said something about 'Sues' and got on the first flight off Coruscant. Although I've no idea why he was heading for Mandalore."

Thank you Lux, for doing something intelligent. If somebody's after him, he can hopefully lose them on Mandlore before heading for Onderon, or wherever they're keeping Steela.

"I thought you'd like to know. She is your friend."

I nod. Maybe not quite as close as Barriss, but she's definitely my second-best friend.

"Thanks for telling me." _Even though my anxiety has reached an all-time high._

 _Lux, you'd better come through. I'm serious._

 **MINA**

To Steela Gerrera's eternal credit, she is a very resilient human being. John, Tandin and I have been keeping her from attempting all sorts of feats.

 _"And what do you think you're doing, young lady?" I asked._

 _Steela froze. "Mina, I can explain."_

 _"I'm sure you can. Back to bed."_

That's only one of Steela's many incidents. There was the "Going upstairs to ask Tandin a question" incident (Tandin said "In the future, just yell for me and I'll come down"), followed by the "I have a sudden craving for chicken nuggets" incident (that one remedied itself, and now she can't even think of nuggets without turning green), and the "I'll never get back in shape if I just sit in bed or in this chair" incident (And if you don't get your rest, it will stay this way.),

 _"What?"_

Saw's yell shatters every thought in the house.

The top of John's face emerges from behind the newspaper. "We probably should see what that's about."

I really don't want to have to deal with Steela Incident Round Four, when I hear the wheelchair wheels coming down the hall- the _opposite_ direction of Saw's voice.

Sierra looks into the living room. "Mom? What's Saw doing?"

Oh, we _really_ need to see what that's about.

John and Tandin jump to their feet a millisecond after me, and we speed down the hallway toward the office and Saw's voice.

Saw paces in the office, shouting into the phone. "What was she even thinking?"

"Who is it?" I ask.

Saw covers the receiver. "That Padme Amidala woman just told the entire Senate about the Lazarus Project!"

 _"What?"_ I echo. "Give me the phone, Saw."

Saw white-knuckles the phone. "Mrs. Bonteri, I really don't think that's a good-."

I snatch the phone from his hands. I don't bother to introduce myself; Padme knows the sound of my voice."

"Padme Naberrie Amidala I taught you better than this!" I hiss into the phone. "What were you thinking, revealing to the Senate that Steela's alive? What were you even trying to accomplish? This will not help you or Ahsoka in the long run! The person who did this to us may very well be in the Senate chambers with you. Are you thinking about the political consequences? Did you think at all about how you've probably told the leader of this project that he's been discovered and he should eliminate the Project, which includes _myself, John, you daughter's best friend, and my children?_ Did you?"

There is silence for a while, and then a timid voice says _"H-hi, Mom."_

"LUX?"

Saw smacks his forehead.

Sierra says "Ooooh, he's gonna _get it."_

John steps forward. "Mina, go easy on him."

 _"Mom, please don't kill me!"_ Lux bleats. _"They needed me here."_

I grit my teeth. "Lux, if you want to go somewhere, then you ask permission from me! What are you doing on Coruscant?"

 _"I was helping with Ahsoka's trial!"_

"Ah, I see. And did you happen to dig up any useful information after sneaking behind Dad's and my backs and worrying me half to death?"

Lux pauses. _"Well, not really."_

"So do you have any excuse for doing what you did?"

 _"They needed me here. If I wasn't here, then Torrent Company would have driven drunk. And-."_

"You were in a car with alcohol?"

 _"No! The clones were drinking, and I was the designated driver. They needed to go to the grocery store. And while we were at the grocery store, I saved them from falling into the trap of Mary Sues."_

"What the Force is a Mary Sue?" I demand, From behind me Steela gasps. "And why did it apparently scare the living daylights out of Steela?"

 _"Mom, this is really important. Will you tell them that Velvet Sparkles was there?"_

"What's a Velvet Sparkles?"

Saw utters a string of four-letter words that I am not going to repeat, and Steela bursts into tears.

Tandin cautiously pats her shoulder. "There, there."

Lux apparently hears the chaos. _"Mom, Mary Sues are girls who are so perfect, you can't stand them. They're working for the Big Kahuna. Steela had to deal with a lot of them while she was a prisoner, and this Velvet Sparkles was the worst one."_

"Worst how?" How could someone with a name like "Velvet Sparkles" be unlikable?

 _"Her full name is Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera."_ Lux says.

"She says she's Steela's twin sister." Saw says between swear words.

"Her hair changes color." Sierra supplies. "And her voice is like every single musical instrument rolled into one."

"She has a super traumatic backstory, and she thinks it gives her an excuse to do anything she wants." Tandin says. "She tried to take over Hero's and my houses."

"She cries rainbows." Steela blurts out. "Rainbows, Mina! She cries _rainbows!"_

And then she buries her head in her hands and starts to cry again.

John grabs the handles on the wheelchair. "Sweetie, we're going to take a walk." He announces, rolling her out of the room.

 _"What was all that about?"_ Lux asks.

"She's running a fever. And one of the side effects of nysillin withdrawal is paranoia." I reply.

 _"Oh. Sorry."_

"Now you listen here, young man." I immediately switch back to angry Mom mode. "You get your little self back to this house before Hutch and Hero's flights arrive, or your grounding will _double._ Do you hear me?"

 _"Yes Mom."_ Lux hurries to say. _"I'm sorry, it was an emergency."_

"I don't care if it's an emergency. The next time you want to travel across planets, you ask me and Dad!"

 _"Would you have let me go?"_

I think about that one for a second.

"No."

 **(A/N: And now, a show of hands. Who thinks Lux is in the doghouse when he finally gets home? This whole subplot with him sneaking out reminds me of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," which is an excellent movie that I would recommend to anyone. Any of my readers from the USA probably have heard of it at some point or another, but I'm not sure if it's been distributed everywhere. At any rate, I'm probably going to start popping some "Ferris Bueller" references quickly, so it may increase your enjoyment if you've seen the movie or at least know the characters' names.**

 **Thank you starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, and Kasai1214 for your reviews! And speaking of reviews, please leave one as you go on your day. Have a lovely day/night!)**


	6. Lux Lands In The Doghouse

**CHAPTER SIX**

 **LUX**

I knew I was dead meat when I smelled something delicious cooking in the kitchen.

John and Mina Bonteri are great parents. They went to all of Sierra's and my school events, they made sure to make us feel special even when they were exhausted from work, they offered support when we needed it, and they aren't afraid of the word "No." But for all their wonderful (sometimes maddening, from the perspective of the child) parenting, they're severely lacking in one specific area.

You see, Mom and Dad are horrible cooks.

Mom worked at Galactic Burger to pay for college, and is so completely turned off to cooking after having to fry ten million fries that she can barely look a frying pan in the eye. Dad, he just never learned. The Bonteri family basically survived off frozen dinners and cereal until Mom finally broke down and got a kitchen droid.

Saw is an awful cook too, there's no way in the Force's green galaxy that any of the adults would let Steela prepare dinner right now, and I don't see Tandin being the culinary type.

That leaves exactly one possibility: Hero, who's saving up for culinary school.

That means her flight got here before I did.

Which translates to _I'm dead._

I use my house key to let myself in. Luckily for me, Saw and Hutch are in the foyer.

"Yell 'I'm home' and then hightail it to your sister's room." Saw advises. "You mom won't make a scene in front of Steela. I'm starting to realize why people called her Senator BonScary."

"Senator BonScary" is one of Mom's nicknames that she doesn't know about. Mainly because people don't say it in her presence, ever.

 _"I'm home!"_ I scream, and run for Sierra's bedroom, never being happier that it's on the first floor. With Hutch and Saw on my heels, I shove the door open and all but slam it behind us.

"Well, look who decided to come home." Sierra says sarcastically.

"Sierra. On a scale of one to ten, how mad are Mom and Dad?"

"Dude. Like 95. You might be able to knock it down to 90 if you go help Hero with dinner."

"Nuh-uh. Hero doesn't let anybody in the kitchen while she's cooking." Hutch says. "Remember when she cooked once during the rebellion-."

"Best food I'd had in a month." My stomach waters at the thought of Hero's stir-fry.

"And Dono tried to go in?" Hutch finishes, irritated.

 _The rest of us were going over battle plans in our main headquarters while the smell of frying goodness wafted out of the kitchen. Followed quickly by squawks, and Dono being shoved out the door._

 _"I wasn't trying to steal your recipe, I just want a drink of water!" Dono yelled._

 _"That's what they all say!" Hero yelled back._

"Yeah. I'd better not do that."

Steela chuckles, apparently remembering how she had to pacify Dono before she blew her stack. She looks infinitely better, healthier, than when I left. She's wearing one of Saw's shirts, which reminds me that she doesn't have clothes. And it's comfortable, and it reminds her of Saw.

Makes sense. Sierra did that with Mom's necklace when we thought they were dead. Saw did it with one of Steela's sweatshirts.

Or maybe I'm wrong, and she's only wearing it because we have nothing. I've been kicking around whether running to the thrift store and buying some Steela-size clothing would look suspicious or not.

"Saw," she says when the laughter dies down. "I really need a favor."

"What?"

"Okay, so my feet really hurt. They would feel a lot better if you could maybe rub them?"

"No way!"

"Please?"

"That's just gross."

"If you rub them, I won't tell Sierra and Hero about the beetle incident when you were six."

"Beetle incident?" Sierra interrupts.

Saw grumbles, plops down on the foot of Steela's bed, and starts to rub her feet.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." He mumbles.

"Okay," Steela says. "While Mr. Expert Masseuse here does my feet- _ouch Saw don't squeeze them! –_ I'd like to tell you all about my ideas for the Project. Step One: get Ahsoka off the hook."

"It's going to be harder than it sounds," I say. "That guy, Tarkin, is a bulldog. He won't stop until she's dead."

"Amidala's utterly stupid bombshell sounds like an effort to stall for time. Maybe Anakin's on to something." Saw replies, taking his hands off Steela's feet.

"That wasn't long enough."

"Deal with it."

"At any rate," I say, butting in before this escalates. "I think Saw's right. But this won't work for long."

"We have to do what we did on Onderon," Steela says. "We have to bring the issue to their front door. Cram it down their throats, if you will."

"How are we going to do that?"

She sighs. "Step Two in my plan is to take down Dendup to knock out one of their kingpins. Also, I'm not very impressed with his reign."

Sierra raises her hand.

"I have a question. When we take out Dendup, who's going to be the new king?"

….

Sierra's question makes it to the dinner table tonight. I stayed holed up until Hero called us down for two reasons. One, I'm not missing out on Hero's food. Two, my parents have enough tact not to lecture me at the dinner table, except for some withering "I'm very disappointed in you, young man" comments.

Between shoveling down food, Sierra manages to ask "Who's going to rule Onderon when Dendup is gone?"

Silence.

And then eyes start to turn to Steela.

"No," she says, "Nope, _nope,_ not in a hundred million years."

"Well then who is?" Hero asks. "Me? I can't be Queen."

"What about Tandin?" Steela suggests.

Tandin drops his fork.

"Excuse me?"

"You would be a great king." Hero says. "The people love you, you were a great general for the militia."

"But I'm not a politician."

"Tandin, the most important qualities for a politician to have are selflessness and care for his people." Mom says, giving him an encouraging smile. "You weren't a young man when you donated your kidney. And you sacrificed your lunch breaks to keep Steela company."

Tandin snorts. "I quote, 'donated' my kidney."

"Generals have become good kings in the past." She says. "You could do it."

Tandin picks up his fork.

"I'll do it on one condtion." He says. "That Steela is my Head Advisor."

Steela blinks. "What?"

"Onderon needs you again, child." He says. "You can help keep this old man in line."

This makes sense. Having a strong Head Advisor could keep a king from going down the path Dendup and Rash took. And I can't think of anyone stronger than Steela.

He offers his hand. "What do you say, Head Advisor Gerrera?"

She stands up, leaning on the table, and they shake.

"It's a deal, Your Highness."

"I'm not King yet." He points out, and then switches his gaze to Saw. "You know, I will need someone to fill my shoes as General. You would be a good fit."

Saw straightens up. "I could handle that."

When I don't hear any input from Hutch, I slide my gaze over to him.

Hutch is trying to flirt with Hero. Emphasis on "trying".

"You're a really great cook. How do you make this?" He asks, motioning to his plate.

"It's a secret." Hero says bluntly.

Hutch wilts a little.

 _I get it, Hutch. Crushes can be a little rough at first._

"Oh and by the way, Lux?" Mom adds. "You're doing the dishes tonight."

"Okay."

"And the next night." Dad adds. "And the night after that. In fact, you're on dish duty for the whole month."

I hate washing dishes, and my parents know it.

…..

But after dealing with seemingly endless dirty dishes, my greatest challenge occurs when it's time to sleep.

Up until tonight, Saw's been staying in my bedroom all by himself. Now, we're cramming three people into it.

And since we can't agree on who gets the bed, we're all squishing in. Saw and I are on either side, with our heads to the headboard. Hutch is in the middle, with his feet to the headboard.

"Your feet stink," Hutch moans.

"You don't have to smell Saw's breath." I shoot back.

Saw glares at me, and then smirks. "Hey Hutch, you've got your sights set on Hero?"

Hutch haphazardly kicks, almost getting me in the face.

"Shut up, Saw!"

"It's kind of obvious," I joke, helping Saw hold Hutch's feet down. "The way you complimented her food the whole time."

"Hey, he wouldn't have to cook a day in his life!" Saw laughs.

"Shove over!" Hutch growls, and pushes Saw so hard, he almost falls off.

I briefly consider going to snooze on the couch, but then I realize that Tandin's sleeping there. And I can't sleep on Sierra's floor because the other girls are there. I'm stuck.

I roll over and groan. "Shut uppp…"

"What?"

"Go to sleep already."

"I can't sleep because you're sticking your feet in my face!"

….

Obviously, none of us got any sleep that night. We trudged into breakfast with dark circles under our eyes and feeling like we'd been run over by a tank.

The girls, on the other hand, look totally fine besides for Steela looking a little green and shaky. But that's' to be expected.

"How did you guys manage to cram three whole people in that tiny-ass bed?" Hutch asks.

Steela blinks. "We didn't. Hero and I slept on the bed, and Sierra slept on the floor with some pillows.

I facepalm. "Of course…"

 **PADME**

 _Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother._

 _-Oprah Winfrey_

Ahsoka's trial is tomorrow.

My efforts to stall be revealing the Lazarus Project are for naught. And Ahsoka is _not_ going to be happy when she finds out.

That's what I was thinking, when I received a message from Captain Rex. It had only six words.

 _Sorry, but she had to know._

That told me everything. Ahsoka knows, and she's probably angrier than heck.

I can't blame her. I feel a little sick to my stomach whenever Mina's or the Gerrera girl's names pop into my mind, knowing what I very well may have done to them.

If either one of them dies, Ahsoka will never forgive me.

But I have to face her now.

When I open the cell door, she glares at me with angry eyes.

"Why did you do that?"

"Ahsoka, I had to. I thought it could stall the trial and give Anakin more time to help us."

"By sacrificing all those people on the altar? I don't want to win if it means they all die."

"Listen to me. They've been warned, and they can take all necessary precautions. But right now, my first priority is taking care of you." I grab her shoulders. "Anakin trusts me to protect you, Ahsoka. And I will never betray his trust!"

While Ahsoka was missing, Anakin was a wreck. He couldn't sit still, he fixated on things, he worried more than he breathed. Only Torrent Company and I understand: when Anakin Skywalker needs to find his padawan, _you find the padawan._

And I didn't.

"You'll do the best you can," she says, smiling sadly.

"I have to if we have any hope of outfoxing Tarkin."

 **STEELA**

Tandin looks terrified walking in to eat today.

"Is something wrong?" John asks.

He looks at all of us.

"We have to prepare. The Big Kahuna is upping his game. He's catching on."

"Tandin, what do you mean?" I ask.

"I got a call from one of my coworkers today. She was called out to investigate a disturbance at a hotel."

 _A hotel? Who important is staying in a hotel?_

"What's the issue?" Saw asks.

"Oswald Ruby's dead."

 **A/N: Duh duh DUUHHN! If anybody can tell me who Oswald Ruby is, and/or find the Ferris Bueller reference in the last chapter [hint, you can find it in the drop-down], you get an internet cookie for each.**

 **And yes, I know I'm posting a little earlier than I usually do [it's 4:20 where I live], but my internet has been kind of spotty all day, so I'm going to take advantage of it actually working for the moment.**

 **Thank you starwarshobbitfics, Kasai1214, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews! Everyone has been so faithful and nice to me. Internet cookies for the world! Internet cookies for everyone!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	7. We All Sign Our Death Certificates

**CHAPTER SEVEN: ROAD TRIP!**

 **SAW**

"Oz is _what?"_ Hutch asks.

"He's dead, and his entire room was sacked." Tandin says.

"Let me guess: his phone is gone." I guess.

"Correct."

 _Thank Force we made a copy of that video._

"But how did they find him? The only way we found out was by doing a cognitive interview on Hero." Steela butts in.

"He has eyes everywhere. Maybe someone overheard at the apartment. Maybe Oz got careless."

"We have to do something." I blurt out. "If he's killing Oz, his next target would likely be Hero."

"Or the Lazaruses themselves." Sierra says. "I don't know about you, but I think the one who's in the most danger is probably Agnes Syndulla."

True enough. Agnes is seventeen years old, and still in the Big Kahuna's custody. If he wants to off her, he can do it at a moment's notice. He could probably do the same thing with Queen Psycho, but I don't care about her.

We leave the adults to talk, and retreat back to Sierra' bedroom with the project wall. The second the door closes…

"We have to save Ahsoka. She's on trial for her life."

Three guesses as to who said that.

"We have to help Agnes. She'll be killed if we don't and she probably has more information about the Project than I do." Steela argues.

Hero jumps in. "Both of these have a common denominator. We need to leave."

"I don't know if you haven't noticed, but there's no way in heck that my parents are letting me leave this house" Lux scoffs.

Hero rolls her eyes. "I'm not saying that we ask them. I say we sneak out."

There's silence.

"So basically, you want us to bend over and kiss our butts good-bye?" Sierra asks.

"Anyway, how are we going to get me on a transport?" Steela asks. "It would be like standing on top of a skyscraper waving a flag and screaming 'Here I am, Big Kahuna!' And there's no way I'm just going to stay here and explain to Mount St. Mina why all of you yahoos are gone."

"We don't have to worry about that. Tandin has a ship." I remember. "It's parked in a public docking bay in town."

Lux smiles. "All right. Everyone, let's get packed!"

…

Hutch and Hero are already packed to leave, so we send them to the store for their own mission. Hutch is in charge of food and consumables, Hero for Steela's clothes.

Steela scribbles her sizes down on a piece of paper for Hero's reference, as well as what kinds of food each of us like. On another sheet of paper, she's writing a "Sorry for stealing your ship but it's for a good cause" note to Tandin, and another to John and Mina.

 _Dear John and Mina,_

 _Please don't kill us._

 _Sincerely, everybody in the house under the age of 25._

Meanwhile Lux, Sierra and I are trying to pack as covertly as possible.

"Mom's going to kill me," Sierra frets as she packs her backpack. "I've never actually done anything bad before."

"Get used to it." Lux mumbles. "Do you have any idea what's going to happen to _me?_ This is round two in the last week!"

Steela wheels herself back into the room. "Hey Lux, can I borrow one of your books? It's boring in space."

Lux nods, and tries to shove his toothbrush into his already-overflowing bag. Steela and I start taking down the documents for the project and putting them in a file folder.

On tiptoeing feet, Hutch and Hero enter laden down with shopping bags.

He hands the receipt to me and I almost faint when I see the grand total.

"This much for some snacks and clothes?" I squeak.

Steela raises an eyebrow. "Women's clothing isn't cheap, brother. Especially some of the items Hero had to get for me."

"Like what? You just wear tank tops and pants most of the time."

Steela takes some of the clothing items out of the bag to check them out. "I also needed shoes, a bra, and something presentable to people of authority. Those can get a bit expensive."

"Also, they don't make clothes for tall women." Hero complains.

"Which is very irritating." Steela mumbles, putting the last article of clothing; a dark pink sweater, back in the bag. "Thanks for getting these for me."

Hutch jerks his head toward the door. "I already put the snacks in my car. All we need is what's in this room."

"Distract everybody." I whisper.

I dump my bag and the folder on Steela's lap, grab her wheelchair handles, and quietly roll my sister down the hallway.

"Hey, Mina? Are you expecting the mailman?" Hero asks.

Hutch points to the back door, and I take off like a bullet with Steela. When we get to Hutch's parked car, I scoop her up o and settle her in one of the seats before folding up her wheelchair and putting it in the back, careful not to crush the bags of snacks.

 _"I don't see a mailman."_ John calls out.

 _"Oops. My bad,"_ Hero covers as Lux, Hutch, and Sierra come flying out of the house with their bags.

"If you drive straight out of here, the alley will spit you out on a main street." Lux says breathlessly, climbing into the back with Sierra.

"Good to know," Hutch says, just as Hero sneaks out the back door and gets in the car.

"GO! GO! GO!" Lux and I yell as Hutch throws the car into drive and floors it.

 **JOHN**

There's a horrible squealing of tires that brings me running to the back door.

"Oh, kriffing kriff."

Hutch's car makes a haphazard turn onto the main road at the end of the alley, and then it's gone.

 _"Lux? Sierra?"_ I yell.

No answer.

My worst fears are confirmed.

From somewhere else in the house, Mina mutters something she probably wanted to say to her customers at Galactic Burger and Tandin goes "Oh, not again."

I take out my phone, and dial Anakin Skywalker.

 _"John, I'm busy."_

"I know you are, but you've got to help me out. The kids left the house and they're probably on their way over to you. If you find them, please give me a call. I have a feeling none of them are going to be answering their phones.

 _"Probably a valid concern. Who's all in the car?"_

"That would be Lux, my daughter Sierra, Saw and Steela Gerrera, Hero Calvert, and Hutch."

 _"That's pretty much a carload of disaster."_

"I know. That's why I'm asking you to tell me if you see them. All my resources will be devoted on keeping Mina calm and making sure Tandin's still on board with the plan."

 _"I've got a lead on Ahsoka's case and I'm getting pretty close to finding it."_

"Best of luck, General Skywalker. I think we'll both be needing it."

 **LUX**

Tandin's ship isn't large by any stretch of the imagination. It has a comfortably-sized cabin for three or four people, but six is a different story.

While I sit myself at the controls, Sierra manages a weak "Yay, road trip!" in a pathetic attempt to cheer us up. Saw puts Steela in a seat and stows her wheelchair for takeoff, while Hutch rips open a bag of particularly aromatic cheese curls.

"Hutch, those have to last us the whole trip." I complain.

"Get them away from me. _Get them away from me,"_ Steela groans, stumbling toward the refresher.

 _Thank Force we had the foresight to bring some of that nutrition drink,_ I think as Hero slinks off to go check on her.

Before Hutch shoves a fistful of cheese curls into his mouth, he explains his logic. "I paid for these, I get to eat them as much as I want. And I'm hungry." He says, and then the cabin is filled with crunching sounds. He's about to go for round two when Saw reaches into the bag. Hutch pulls it away.

"Get outta my cheese curls, Gerrera! It was bad enough you were sticking your feet in my face."

"These are supposed to be for all of us." Saw argues, grabbing a fistful of cheesy snacks.

Hero and Steela exit the refresher, Hero looking pretty grossed-out. After Steela gets back to her seat, she gives a look to Hutch and Saw.

"Are you two fighting over those disgusting oily snacks?

"They're not disgusting, they're delicious." Saw argues. Steela sighs.

"Just typical. Typical of all of you to be eating cheesy stuff. I can't eat any of this!"

"Yeah you can," I say. "We brought some plain crackers, peanuts, and your energy drink thing."

Steela roots around in the bag and pulls out the plain crackers. "Thank Force. Sierra, do you want anything?"

No response from Sierra. She's screwed her earbuds in and is blasting music to drown out everyone else.

….

Nobody ever tells you how boring hyperspace is. There's nothing to see. You can only get a marginal connection to the HoloNet. You get sick of reading books. We've run out of conversation topics, and the only thing left to do is fight with Hutch over a bag of chips that I don't even like.

"Let go of the chips!" Hutch yells in the middle of our tug-of-war.

"I'm starving and you've already stuffed your face!" I yell.

Saw and Hero are trying to pick up anything good on the radio. All we're getting is a bunch of cantina music.

"Think we can catch the University of Onderon game?" Sierra whispers.

"Hutch will go bananas because they're in the losing bracket." Saw whispers back.

"You know, I think we'll all feel better after a rendition of the University of Onderon fight song." I suggest, hoping to loosen Hutch's death grip on the chips.

So we sing it. And sing it. We get through the first line of "On Onderon there is a team," about three times before Hutch starts to shout-sing it while yanking on the chip bag.

The happy friendship moment is gone. The war zone is back.

After a while, Steela yells for us to shut up, takes Saw's phone, and dials.

The phone rings, and then someone says _"You've reached the Iziz Garden Hotel, a good night's sleep guaranteed. This is Natalie speaking. How may I help you."_

"Hello, this is Agent Leibowitz from the Royal Milita," Steela says in a deep voice. "We're going to need you to send over the guest list for the night Oswald Ruby died."

 _"It looks like we already gave it to you while you were at the crime scene."_

"I understand, but one of our interns spilled caf on it." Steela replies after thinking frantically.

The hotel desk person sighs. _"I'll send it over if you give me the comm number."_

Steela rattles off a comm number- _my_ comm number- and the hotel person sends the list over. It pops up on my phone and I bring it up.

"Okay," Saw says. "Check the people who're only staying for one night."

I narrow the list down to overnight patrons, and sigh.

"There's still so many of them. And we don't have any other factors to narrow this guy down."

Sierra leans in. "Actually, yeah we do. Isn't Ed Rooney a fictional character?"

I look up. She's right. Ed Rooney is the villain in _Ferris Bueller's Day Off,_ one of my favorite movies.

Saw grabs my phone. "He paid cash. There's no way to track it."

I shake my head. "No. But two can play at the Ferris Bueller game."

"What do you mean?"

I pull some envelopes out of the glove compartment.

"Someone I know makes very good fake IDs." Still Guy made them for me. He's basically Torrent Company's jack-of-all-illegal-trades.

Saw's eyes bug out. "Cameron Fry? You named me _Cameron Fry?"_ he yells.

 _"Jeannie Bueller?"_ Sierra squawks. "I'm not that bad of a little sister!"

Steela doesn't even look at her ID. "Lux, t if this says 'Sloane Peterson' I'm telling Ahsoka."

"Don't worry, that's what Ahsoka's fake says."

Steela's happy until she reads her fake name.

"Tesla Coil?"

And that's when I decide that now is a very good time to barricade myself in the refresher

 **(Author's Note for anybody who hasn't seen "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".**

 **Ferris is the protagonist of the movie. He's popular, clever, and cool. Cameron Fry is Ferris' clinically depressed best friend. Sloane Peterson is Ferris' girlfriend, and Jeannie Bueller is his jealous, scheming younger sister.**

 **So now all of the rebels have run off from John and Mina's house. What will happen to them? Or more accurately: how dead are they when Mina gets ahold of them?**

 **Thank you starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, and Kasai1214 for your reviews! And everyone reading today, please drop a review on your way out, they are much appreciated. Until next time!)**


	8. Steela Catches A Big Fish

**CHAPTER NINE: STEELA CATCHES A BIG FISH**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Clone Wars. I do own Sierra, Hero, and John. I do** _ **not**_ **own Agnes. She belongs to Kasai1214.**

 **PADME**

Court is in recess, and that _snake_ Tarkin won't let me near Ahsoka.

"Former Padawan Tano needs to be kept on the platform, Senator." He sneers.

It takes all my self-control not to get up in his face.

"My client also needs to _eat,_ Tarkin."

It's not a fun battle, but I win. Mainly because the clones guarding Ahsoka like her, and Tarkin's not about to publicly deny a teenager food.

I take Ahsoka into a side room and keep a good eye on her while I set out the lunch one of my aides packed for us. She looks like she's going to cry.

"Ahsoka?"

"We don't have a defense!" she wails. "What are we going to do without a defense?"

I put a hand on one of her shoulders. "It's okay. Mina gave me some tips."

The door opens. I put on my game face, fully expecting Tarkin, but instead come face to face with someone I thought wasn't even here.

Ahsoka sniffs. "Lux?"

"Ahsoka!" Lux cries, ducking past the guards and rushing to her side. "It's all right, we're here."

"How bad was it?" she bleats.

Lux pauses.

"Well…I think they secretly liked you." He says finally.

Translation: We're screwed.

I try not to dwell on that fact and instead focus on the other people in the doorway. I recognize Sierra from when she was little, but I don't know the boy or the girl in a wheelchair.

I can guess. "You must be Saw and Steela." I say, sticking out my hand to shake.

Saw steps in front of his younger sister. "Pretty bold of you to say that, Senator, after you blew my sister's cover to the entire Senate!"

"Saw!" Steela reprimands. "Remember what we said in the ship?"

Ahsoka hugs Lux like he's going to disappear. "H-how did you get in?"

"I didn't get in, per se." Lux says. "Ferris Bueller got in. And I only got in because I was Hardcase's designated driver a few nights ago, and called in a favor."

"Where are Hutch and Hero?" she asks.

"They went off to rescue Agnes Syndulla. She's another Lazarus," Saw says. "But we have an idea for when court's back in session."

"I'm going to testify." Steela announces.

I blink. "What? I'm sorry, but you don't have any information on this case."

"Actually," Steela says "Yes I do. Whoever's behind the Lazarus Project is eliminating witnesses, meaning Ahsoka's on his hit list."

"And since you're a Lazarus, your testimony could bring this to light and we could declare a mistrial due to a lack of evidence." I realize. _Steela, you're a genius!_

She crosses her arms. "Anything to get Ahsoka out of this popsicle stand."

Ahsoka separates from Lux, accidentally headbutting his lips from where he was trying to kiss her on the forehead. After ensuring that none of his teeth are broken…

"Do you know how glad I am that you didn't die right now?" She jokes darkly.

"Why die when there are so many bad trials to fix?"

"Anyway," I stand up. "Ahsoka, eat your lunch. I've got to send a motion up to the bench that we're bringing in a new witness. Steela, what's your middle name?

"June. Why?"

I do a little figuring in my head. "All right. So when they call you, they'll be calling S. June Gerrera. _Hopefully_ seeing you roll in without hearing your first name will throw the jury for a curveball.

"S. June Gerrera. Okay."

"Good." I say, and walk off to go notify Chancellor Palpatine.

…

The Chancellor was not too happy when I said I was bringing in a surprise witness.

I step up to my platform, waiting for Ahsoka to be placed on hers so I can call Steela to the stand when I hear a disturbance coming from the platform.

It's the sound of two teenage girls speaking in hushed, rapid tones.

I lean over to see what's happening, and almost have a heart attack. _What the Force is Steela doing with Ahsoka? I don't want to get contempt of court added to our list of charges!_

And then the air is shattered by a scream.

"Run, Ahsoka! _RUN!"_ Steela screams, and grabs Ahsoka by the wrist as she flies out the door.

 **STEELA**

Apparently, the two clones guarding Ahsoka got beer a few nights ago because Lux designated drove their friends to the supermarket. Thus, they let me stand next to her before they take her to the platform.

"You okay?" I ask.

Ahsoka shrugs. "I don't know. You can only testify for so long before Tarkin goes in for cross-examination. And trust me, that's not going to be pleasant."

"Two words for you, Ahsoka: Mary Sues."

"I'm not sure who's worse, him or a Sue. You want to strangle them both." Ahsoka makes a face.

"What?"

She raises her cuffed hands to point behind me. "There he is, getting onto his platform."

I turn around.

And immediately stop breathing.

"Steela, is something wrong? Your Force signature is screaming fear."

"What's this guy's name again?" I demand.

"Captain Wilhuff Tarkin. Why?"

"Does he sound really pompous when he talks?"

"…Yeah. _Why?"_

My hands start shaking, and every instinct I have screams _Run for it, Steela!_

"Did he grab your chin?" I ask, my voice scaling to a ridiculously high pitch. Some of the people in the courtroom turn their heads, apparently having heard me.

Including Tarkin.

And when he turns, I don't even need Ahsoka's answer.

His gaze hardens when he sees me, turning into some sort of military psycho. Which is understandable, considering I'm probably the scariest thing he's ever seen.

Because I remember him, all right. I remember his fingers twisted in a lock of my hair as Dendup said I was too drugged out to remember a thing!

 _Lux was right. The Big Kahuna is going after Ahsoka!_

If I go up on that stand and tell the jury that Tarkin is heading up an operation where he "resurrects" people, they'll think I'm delusional. It will look like the desperate move that it is, and Tarkin will shut down every last remnant of the Project.

There's only one way this can end even remotely happily for anyone.

"Run, Ahsoka! _Run!"_ I scream, grab her, and take off out the door.

…..

If Mina materializes in the hallway, I'm dead meat. I just realized that I jumped out of my chair and have been running this entire time.

Actually, if my adrenaline stops pumping my feet are probably going to go on strike and send me doing a face plant.

Ahsoka slams on her brakes. "Steela, what are you doing?"

I share a wild, panicked look with her. "Tarkin is the guy behind the Lazarus Project. He's trying to get you executed."

"I look even guiltier running from a courtroom!" Ahsoka snaps.

"It's our only chance to stay alive."

"Sure. So, now that we've just run from the law, how are we going to get out?"

 _Blast it. I didn't think of that. Hutch and Hero are on Ryloth saving Agnes, so we don't have a ship. Unless…_

"Your master. He would get us off-world."

"Okay. So now we have to get to him, and I still have handcuffs on." Ahsoka snaps.

"Pretty sure I've got a Swiss Army knife in my pocket." I reply, tugging Ahsoka along while fumbling for the knife.

Ahsoka keeps pace with me. Suddenly, an announcement blares from the speakers.

 _"Attention all personnel: Former Padawan Tano has escaped the courtroom in the company of a known fugitive. If she is spotted, shoot to kill. Do not attempt to take either one alive!"_ Tarkin's voice blasts.

As if I needed _another_ reason to hate the guy's guts.

"Ahsoka, do you know any way out of here?" I ask.

Ahsoka nods. "There's a fire escape down the next corridor. If we take it, then we'll have to run down the side of the building on a staircase. I'm going to need my hands."

"Just get us there, and I'll get the cutter out." I finally manage to get the knife and start frantically flipping through the components, searching for the laser cutter.

If this was my own knife, there wouldn't be a problem. But this isn't my knife. It's Dono's. The day we rescued that hypocrite Dendup from execution, she let me borrow it so I could cut something or other. When I was done, I stuck the knife in my pocket thinking I'd give it back to her so she could use its corkscrew to pop the top off a bottle of spirits, to drink to Dendup's rescue.

Dono died before she could get her knife back. Saw popped the top off the bottle with it and just kept it, thinking it was mine and he'd give it back later. Since we all know how well that worked out for him, I swear to God I'm never letting anyone borrow it again. Dumb thing must be cursed or something.

If I hadn't been held captive by the Lazarus Project for her funeral, I would have put it in Dono's coffin. But Saw held on to it and when he gave it to me again, thinking it was mine, I went with it.

Honestly, that's a good thing. Dono was smart enough to buy a knife with a laser cutter.

It slices through Ahsoka's handcuffs, and she wiggles her fingers before running normally.

"Where….is….the…fire…escape?" I wheeze. _Stupid nysillin withdrawal._

"Don't worry, it's right out here." She says, directing me down a side corridor to a large, gray door. Painted on it in huge red letters are: EMERGENCY EXIT. DO NOT OPEN OR ALARM WILL SOUND.

"Ahsoka…"

"It's an emergency!" she justifies.

"I don't care about the first part, how about the alarm part?"

"I don't care about that one either!" she says, and shoves the door open with the Force.

BREEEEEET! BREEEEEET!

"Oh, what the Force?" I mutter, and follow her out the door and onto the fire escape.

My borrowed phone starts ringing when we're a couple flights down.

 _"Call from Saw."_ The phone announces. I grab it and answer.

"Yes?"

 _"What the heck are you doing, Steela?"_

"Tarkin's the Big Kahuna!" I snap.

 _"Tarkin is what?"_

"The Big Kahuna, you nitwit! He's the guy Dendup brought in when I first woke up." I snap. "Look, Ahsoka and I are coming out of the building right now but we need someone to come pick us up."

 _"We don't have a car!"_ Saw cries, going into panic mode.

"Then get one! And get out yourselves, the last thing we need is you getting arrested."

 _"Lux, get a taxi and pay the driver enough to not ask any questions."_ Saw orders, after which Lux says something and Saw replies. _"I'll take her with me. Come on, Sierra."_

"You're taking Sierra with you?"

 _"She's a Lazarus too. You think Tarkin will leave her alone?"_

True enough. "We're on the south side of the building, on the fire escape. Get here as soon as you can."

"We're not going to be here for long," Ahsoka says. "We've got to change routes or Tarkin will be all over us in minutes. We're going back in."

She picks another fire exit, opens it, and we duck into some kind of coatroom.

"The main docking bay isn't too far from here. If we get there, we're golden."

"Sounds like a plan." I puff. Let's just hope the taxi gets here soon. My adrenaline is starting to wear off, and my feet _kill._

Ahsoka gives me a worried look. "Your feet hurt, don't they? Why didn't you bring your wheelchair?"

"I can't go fast enough in it. I've only had it for a few days, _Mina."_ I tease.

Ahsoka doesn't bother to laugh. "The entrance is right up here."

"As soon as we get out, we can call a taxi to-,"

"You _will_ tell me where Ahsoka Tano's trial is." Someone says out of our sightlines.

I slide my gaze over to Ahsoka. "Ahsoka, is that your master?"

She nods.

"Well there's our ticket out!" I cheer, and we start to go after Skywalker's voice.

"Sir, the trial is closed to spectators. Why do you think you can enter the courtroom?" The front desk clerk asks.

"Because I have the real culprit here!" Skywalker yells just as he comes into our field of vision.

Ahsoka slams on her brakes. I tug on her arm.

"Ahsoka, come on."

Ahsoka doesn't move, but Anakin Skywalker turns around.

"Steela? _Ahsoka?"_

"General Skywalker, I can explain." I start. "Captain Tarkin isn't who he says he is."

Anakin shakes his head. "We all need to get to the courtroom. It's over now. I found who really did this." He says, grabbing each of us by our shoulders.

Ahsoka turns her head to look over her shoulder at the person standing guarded by masked men with yellow sabers.

"Barriss?" she asks plaintively.

 _Barriss._

I remember that name. She's Ahsoka's best friend.

 _Ahsoka's best friend just set her up for execution?!_

And without thinking about it, I'm filled with an incredible, primal urge to punch this Barriss chick so hard, her head will spin like a top.

 **SIERRA**

Anakin took Ahsoka back to the Temple after Barriss was led away. Lux gave her a big hug on the way out.

"You're all right now," he says, trying to make the embrace look friendly.

"Don't leave until I call you, please." She replies, and then she does something I didn't think she'd do in public. She kisses my brother on the cheek.

Steela is torn between punching Barriss or sneering at Tarkin as he's dragged off in handcuffs. She chooses to go up to Tarkin.

"Contrary to what Dendup said, I remember."

Tarkin shoots her a nasty look, and Steela bares her teeth in a huge, victorious grin.

Padme lets us crash in her office for the time between when court lets out, and when Lux gets a call from Ahsoka, asking if she can stay with us.

 **(A/N: Yup, Tarkin is the Big Kahuna. I understand that "human male, brown hair, early thirties" is a pretty generic description for the men of The Clone Wars. That was intentional, and it just so happened that Tarkin fits into that description. At least, I had him pegged for about 30 or 31 years old.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter. It means an awful lot to me, and it's been instrumental in keeping updates timely. And to Kasai1214, about her prediction that the Sues were going to show up in the trial scene: they were working for the Big Kahuna. So now you can see why they're not there. : )**

 **Speaking of updates: someone very close to me has died, so I will be rather busy right now. If updates slow down a little, that's probably why. I apologize in advance.**

 **Please drop a review on your way out. I'm interested to hear about what you think of the Big Kahuna's identity, and just this chapter in general.)**


	9. The Better They Are The Harder They Fall

**CHAPTER NINE: THE MORE PERFECT THEY ARE, THE HARDER THEY FALL**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Clone Wars. Disney does. I also don't own Agnes, who belongs to Kasai1214.

 **SAW**

Ahsoka is no longer a Jedi.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around that fact. She's in the back, either crying in Lux's arms or on Steela's shoulder, depending on which one of them is in with her. And as for Lux, you can't deny that he's John and Mina's son.

On one of the occasions that Ahsoka's come into the cabin without tears rolling down her face, Steela takes a piece of paper out of her pocket and draws a solid X through something.

"What is that?" Sierra asks.

Steela cocks an eyebrow in a devilish grin. "It's my hit list."

"You have a hit list?" I hiccup.

Steela holds up the paper, which reads.

AHSOKA

THE BIG KAHUNA

MARY SUES

DENDUP

There are two huge slashes through the first two items. Ahsoka recoils.

"I'm on the same list as the Sues, Tarkin, and Dendup?"

"It was short for 'Save Ahsoka.'" Steela explains. "As you can see, half of my hit list is complete. There are only two more things to accomplish: ditch the Sues, and kick out Dendup."

"We're going to attack _Mary Sues?"_ I bleat. "Let me go smoke some gunpowder while I'm at it! Or go take a nap on the railroad tracks. Or go tell an important celebrity that she's fat in front of a crowd of crazed fangirls."

"We're going home to get reinforcements first." Steela says. "Hopefully, we'll be able to calm Mount St. Bonteri before she explodes."

…

 _"Lux Michael Bonteri, Sierra Ann Bonteri, Steela June Gerrera and Saw Frederick Gerrera, I am extremely disappointed in you!"_

I don't even know where Mina found out Steela's and my middle names. All I know is that I'm in deep trouble.

"What possessed you to steal Tandin's ship and run away to Coruscant…again?" Mina demands.

Ahsoka raises her hand. Even though she's not getting yelled at, she's plopped down in a nearby chair.

"Mina, in all honesty they saved me from Tarkin. He'd probably come up with something to get me executed even after they found Barriss was behind the whole thing."

Mina seems to consider it for a half second.

A new voice calls out _"Mina, am I allowed to eat from the fridge?"_

"Of course. You need to eat." Mina calls back, a smile on her face. Then she turns back to us, game face on. "What Ahsoka said, and the fact that you kids are working to end the Lazarus Project are your only saving graces." She says. "You're free to go. But this time, _no running off to do force-knows what_ without asking me. It's not like I can stop you anyway."

"So you're not mad?" Sierra asks.

"No," Mina clarifies. "I'm very mad. But you did something that needed to be done. I told Hutch and Hero the same thing when they brought Agnes here."

"Agnes?" I ask.

"Agnes Syndulla, the other Lazarus that we actually care about." Lux clarifies.

"Ohhhh."

Mina clears her throat. "Last I checked, she's in the kitchen." She grabs the handles of Steela'a wheelchair. "We can save your introductions for a later date, young lady. What were you thinking, getting up and running through the Senate building?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I'm sure it did. But now, we're going to put hot packs on your feet so they hopefully won't hurt as much." Mina says as she rolls Steela away.

Sierra takes off to take a shower, and Lux and I go to the kitchen to return the mostly-empty bag of cheese curls to the pantry.

A green Twi'lek girl stands in the middle of the room, eating from a paper plate.

She's nice-looking, with big green eyes and a sweet face. She's wearing one of Hutch's shirts and a pair of Hero's pants. Guess the Lazarus Project doesn't provide a wardrobe for any of their subjects.

When we enter the room, she puts her plate down.

The girl smiles. "You must be Saw and Lux. I'm Agnes Syndulla."

"I'm Saw. Nice to meet you." I say, shaking her proffed hand.

Agnes reaches behind her and picks up a bowl of fruit. "Do you want some of this fruit in syrup? It's really good."

Lux and I get a good look at the fruit, and recoil like it's going to blow up.

"Is something wrong?" Agnes asks.

"It has a yellow sticker on it." Lux says in horror.

Before we left, Hero made something very clear to us. Some of the dishes she's going to prepare involve leaving food sit in order to marinate. To make it clear what she's preparing, she's marked everything she needs with a yellow sticker.

A yellow sticker means "do not eat this or else Hero's liable to serve you as a side dish."

Apparently Agnes didn't get the memo.

She turns the bowl a hundred and eighty degrees.

"Oh Force." She says, terrified. "I didn't even see it!"

"Is Hero home?" Lux cries.

Agnes shakes her head. "She went to the store to get more ingredients for dinner."

"Okay, we can fix this." I say, holding out my hands. "Agnes, how much did you eat?"

Agnes blushes a little. "I never got fruit in prison. So probably two servings? What's even in this thing?" she asks, looking into the bowl.

"Yell out the items and we'll get them." Lux says, grabbing a knife from the knife block.

"Jogans, strawberries, pineapple, and mandarin oranges. The hard part isn't the fruit, it's this red syrup." She says.

"We can just make red sugar water, add corn syrup, and it'll pass." I say, grabbing the red food coloring out of the cabinet.

"That's not it." Agnes says, tasting the red syrup by itself. Her eyes widen in realization.

"Oh Force. It's not syrup. It's Jell-O."

Of all the things for Hero to be making, it had to be fruit Jell-O? Making Jell-O involves boiling water, which takes a long time, and it'll be painfully obvious if we do the corn syrup trick.

"What kind is it? Strawberry?" Lux asks. Agnes nods, and Lux ducks into the fridge, coming out with snack-size containers of Jell-O.

"Jell-O is one of the foods that sick people can eat. Mom must have been stocking up." He mutters, filling a mixing bowl with hot water from the sink, and dunking in the gelatin cups to melt the concoction. We pour the melted Jell-O into the rest of Hero's dish. After adding the Bonteris' last can of pineapple, the Jell-O looks halfway okay. Agnes shoves it back into the fridge before taking a deep breath.

"Thanks. Hero would have killed me."

"Yeah, she isn't the most forgiving person ever."

Agnes rolls her eyes. "For sure. She grinds my gears. But that didn't stop Hutch from spending the entire flight home trying to flirt with her."

"I think the love fairy whacked him a little too hard." I laugh, all the while thinking _If Agnes is patient enough to handle Mary Sues and Hero grinds her gears, then Hero must be doing it on purpose._

 _As if we need one more point of conflict._

….

That night at dinner, Hero makes a confused face after taking the first bite of her fruit Jell-O.

"Huh. I thought I used cherry Jell-O."

Steela sees the terrified look on Agnes' face, and quickly changes the topic.

"We have to take out the Mary Sues," she says. "If we don't, we don't have any chance at getting Dendup off the throne."

"How?" Sierra asks.

"We've done it before."

"Only because I threw her out of my house." Hero says.

"Agnes did it."

Agnes looks up. "All I did was make polite conversation and say what they wanted to hear. They got bored with me pretty fast when they found out I wasn't going to add to their traumatic backstory."

"Great. So we have no ammunition." Hutch sums up our conversation.

"Actually, we have one last trick up our sleeves."

 **LUX**

Mary Perfect Sue's place is a mansion.

No, I don't mean mansion in the "she has a cushy house in a nice part of town" way. I mean Mary Perfect Sue owns an actual _mansion_ that would put 500 Republica to shame. And yes, I have seen the inside of Padme's apartment once or twice.

Our motley crew crouches behind the wrought iron fence to spy at the huge place.

"If that's Mary Sue's house, then you bet it has state-of-the-art security."

"What if she's not home?" Sierra asks.

"Mary Sues don't work." Agnes explains. "She's certainly at home."

"Does everyone remember the plan?" Steela asks.

We all nod, even though this is our master plan.

 _One: If Ahsoka, Agnes, or Steela says to do it, do it._

 _Two: if you think it will kill a Mary Sue, do it._

 _Three: If it's stupid, don't do it._

Julius Caesar would be proud.

"Okay, I can get over the fence if I use the Force." Ahsoka says. "But you all can't do that, and it would take too long for me to lift you over one by one. We need to have some people get in without tripping the security system."

I smile. "Why do you think I'm wearing these clothes?"

I'm wearing a black polo shirt and khaki pants. Steela was about to read me the riot act for wearing something so impractical, but I explained.

I pick up a small cardboard box from beside me, grab Hutch, and walk right up to the gates.

"What are you doing?" Hutch hisses.

For an answer, I ring the gate bell.

 _"Who is it?"_ someone says through the speaker.

I hold up the box. "Delivery for Mary Perfect Sue?"

The lock clicks, and the gates open. Hutch and I walk right on in.

"Why am I with you?"

"Because you look more like a deliveryman than Saw." I reply. He and I walk up the long, well-maintained path to the front porch of the mansion.

Hutch blinks. "Hey, Lux? When we win this thing, this mansion becomes a spoil of war, right?"

I crunch some statutes in my head. "I think so."

"So we can keep it?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I counted three Jacuzzis, a tennis court, and a go-kart racing track so far. What if we converted this place into a rebel hangout? That would be awesome. You and Saw could go go-kart racing, the girls could play tennis…I could sit in a Jacuzzi with Hero."

"Hero?"

Hutch makes a face as if mentally slapping himself. "Not a word to Saw."

 _No guarantees, Hutch._ "Sure."

Hutch takes a relieved breath as we approach the house door. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my friends sneaking up to the house through the well-maintained gardens.

We step onto the welcome mat and ring the doorbell.

Almost instantly, a beautiful girl opens the door.

It's the same girl I saw for two seconds at the store, but she's traded her pseudo-cowgirl look for something much different. Mary Perfect Sue is wearing a super-short, super-tight black vinyl dress so low-cut, her sizable cleavage barely stays put. On her feet are shoes that I can only describe as stripper heels.

If Ahsoka was wearing it, I would have dropped dead. If Sierra tried to walk out of the house dressed like that, I would have stopped her before she even hit the door.

"Is that mine?" she asks in a sultry voice.

Hutch chokes for a few seconds. I step on his foot and hand Mary Perfect Sue her package.

But instead of grabbing the package, she grabs my wrist with an _incredible_ strength and yanks me in.

"Hutch!" I squeak as I go flying across the threshold, Mary Sue locking the door behind us.

"It's okay," Mary purrs. "Our love was meant to be! We're destined for each other! See, I'm force sensitive, and I'm even more powerful than Ahsoka even though the Jedi never found me! And I'm an even better shot than Steela, because you had a two-second crush on her six months ago. And since I'm clearly prettier than both of them put together, we should get married right now."

"HUTCH! Help me!" I scream.

The door frame shakes, presumably from a kick.

"Kiss me!" Mary Sue shrieks, grabbing my head.

Panicking, I karate chop her shoulder but it barely glances off, as if she's made of iron.

Suddenly, the door flies off its hinges and into the house, slamming Mary Perfect Sue away from me. A very ticked-off Ahsoka fills the frame.

"You get your perfectly manicured claws out of my boyfriend, you hear me?" she roars.

I don't have time to register this is the first time she's called me her boyfriend before Mary stands back up.

"You can't do this to me, horrible soon-to-be-ex!" she yells. "I'm a Mary Sue!"

As soon as the words are out of her mouth, there's the sound of somebody coming down the stairs.

"Mary Perfect Sue?" Velvet Sparkles asks, when she turns the corner and the whole fiasco fills her gemstone eyes. "Oh, no!"

Ahsoka pulls out her lightsaber, but Agnes runs up and grabs her by the elbow.

"No! You'll just add to their traumatic backstories." she protests. "We have to fight them like we planned."

"We actually have a plan?" Saw bawls.

All the girls nod.

"Why weren't we told of this?" I ask.

"Because you're a blabbermouth." Sierra supplies.

Before I can fire off a reply, Ahsoka and Agnes part like the Red Sea, and Hero comes barreling through them, toward the Sues' kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Velvet Sparkles shrieks, white-knuckling the banister.

Hero throws open the fridge, grabs something out of it, and starts eating.

Velvet Sparkles screams. "That is Kaminoan caviar!"

"Yeah, I could tell." Hero snaps, scooping the caviar onto a cracker. "This is how it feels for someone to come in and crash your house, and eat all your food. How does it feel?"

"Get out!" Velvet Sparkles cries, pointing at the door. "Get out, Mean House Lady!"

Hero smirks. "If you hate me crashing your house, then why was it okay for you to crash my house?"

Velvet Sparkles stamps her foot. "Because of my traumatic backstory, _duh."_

"Really?" Agnes asks. "While I was waiting for the others to come home, I checked out your backstory. What was it again?"

"My parents abandoned me and kept Steela because they only could afford one baby! They left me at an awful orphanage where we had to work all day and all the other girls bullied me because I was too perfect!"

Agnes nods. "One last question. This orphanage was Lakeside Home for Girls, right?" Velvet Sparkles nods, and Agnes continues. "Hero and I paid a visit there. It looks completely fine. All the kids were at school, the building was up to code, and the staff was qualified. In terms of orphanages, it's a pretty good one."

"It was completely unfair! I had to make my own bed every single day, and every single night we each had to do a chore from the chore chart!" Velvet Sparkles yells.

Agnes ignores her. "In all reality, that's the tamest orphanage I've ever seen."

Velvet Sparkles stutters, and Steela jumps in.

"Plus, it's biologically impossible for you to be my sister." She says. "Both my parents had attached ear lobes, which is a recessive trait in humans. You have free ear lobes, the dominant trait. It's impossible for two people with all recessive genes to have a kid with the dominant trait."

"But it's true!" Velvet Sparkles wails. "It's true, it's true, it's _true!"_

"Maybe in your happy little world." Steela replies. "But it's official: you're not my sister. You're just a sham."

Velvet puts her foot down, face screwing up in anger. "I am not a sham! How are you say that to me! I am a _Mary Sue!_ I can do whatever I want, whenever I want to."

She lunges at Steela but Sierra jumps between the two, brandishing a makeup mirror.

"Nobody looks pretty when they're enraged." She says, flashing the mirror at Velvet Sparkles.

Velvet Sparkles stops in her tracks, and her eyes get huge.

"B-but I always look beautiful."

"Velvet," Saw says. "You aren't a real person. You're just a two-dimension, cardboard cutout of a person."

Velvet's jaw drops, and then she implodes into a pink cloud of rainbows, glitter, sunshine, and music.

Even though I'm not force sensitive, I can feel a million voices crying out in relief.

Mary Perfect Sue screams.

"You killed my best friend!"

"Wait, in prison you said that Ebony chick was your best friend!" Steela shouts.

Agnes rolls her eyes. "Mary Sues go through best friends like they're popcorn, Steela. They're BFFs on one page and they hate each other on the other."

Ahsoka stiffens. "Are you implying that I'm a-."

"She set you up for execution." Agnes pacifies. "You actually have a reason to end your friendship."

Mary Perfect Sue ignores us. "Never kill a Mary Sue's best friend, because she'll make you die a slow, torturous death!" she shrieks, a huge dagger magically forming in her hand when there's a flash of green, and Mary Perfect Sue explodes into another pink cloud of a five-year-old girl's dreams.

Ahsoka stands behind the little pile of fairy dust that used to be Mary Perfect Sue with an activated lightsaber.

"Sometimes, the old strategies work the best." She says.

 **(A/N: *singing to the tune of "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead"* Ding dong, the Sues are dead! Which old Sues? The Mary Sues! *stops singing***

 **Thank you starwarshobbitfics, Kasai1214, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. You guys made me feel a lot better.**

 **Please drop a review as you go. How satisfying was the death of the Mary Sues? Did Mina let the kids off a little too easily? A certain two of them have their just desserts still coming…)**


	10. Do You Hear The People Sing?

**CHAPTER TEN– DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Clone Wars. It belongs to Disney. I also don't own Agnes. She belongs to Kasai1214.**

 _There was a time we killed the King_ _We tried to change the world too fast._ _Now we have got another King._ _He is no better than the last._

 _-Gavroche, in "Les Miserables"_

 **SIERRA**

Ahsoka calmly deactivates her lightsaber and stows it on her belt. This is the first time I've ever seen one of those things in the flesh, but my awe has nothing to do with that.

"D-Did you just kill a Mary Sue?" I stammer.

Ahsoka nods. "They are human, to an extent. I mean, nothing can survive without a head."

 _Best. Sister-in-law. Ever._

 _Lux, if you screw this up I will never forgive you._

I don't think I have to worry too much about that. The look beaming off Lux's face roughly translates to _Best girlfriend ever!_

Steela takes her hit list out of her pocket, grabs a pen off table and draws a huge line through "Mary Sues." The list now looks like this.

AHSOKA

THE BIG KAHUNA

MARY SUES

DENDUP

She's underlined Dendup's name several times. The other three names are crossed off.

"Are you ready to do what we were planning to do in the first place?" Lux asks Saw.

"I was _born_ ready, Bonteri."

Steela blinks. "Wait. You guys were plotting to overthrow Dendup before I was even in the picture?"

I shift my weight. "Uh, Steela? When we were in jail, do you remember me telling you that I was in the slammer for breaking out before?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Lux and I were at Saw and Hutch's house to watch the University of Onderon game, and they lost. Hutch kind of went berserk, so we left his house after curfew to go home. And then we got arrested."

"Really?" Steela asks, giving Saw the dirty eye.

"The next day, we were posing as waiters so we could steal money to fund our rebellion. And the cop who arrested us was at one of my tables." I finish.

"Wait," Ahsoka asks incredulously. "You're saying that you found out about the Lazarus Project, rescued Steela and Agnes, saved me from execution, and got Tarkin arrested, _because the University of Onderon lost a game?"_

It sinks in for a second.

"Basically."

"I've never been happier that they suck!" Agnes exclaims.

 _"The Rupings do not suck!"_ Hutch yells. "They are the best bolo-ball team in the galaxy!"

"Sure, Hutch." Hero says through a mouthful of caviar. "Just sure."

Steela claps her hands. "All right, you guys. We need to go back to the Bonteris' and get Tandin. If we're taking down Dendup, the new king should be present."

"Are you sure the people want a new king?" Ahsoka asks. "It's like what Dendup said last time, about the will of the people."

"If the dirty looks people have been shooting at the palace are any indication, they want him gone." Lux supplies.

"They also wanted Rash gone, but it didn't spur them to do anything." Saw says. "We have to give them something to fight for."

All eyes go to Steela.

"What?"

We stare at her some more.

"They really liked your public speaking…" Saw goads.

Steela throws up her hands.

"Fine! Padme already blabbed it to the Senate anyway."

 **STEELA**

"I have no idea why I'm allowing you to do this." Mina says.

"We've gotten rid of corrupt kings before." Lux puts in.

"That still doesn't answer my question." Mina mumbles. "General Tandin, are you sure you can keep them all safe?"

Tandin nods. "When I was a young militiaman, my group was investigating a slavery ring. When it was time to run the bust, I was the first person to charge in. My group heard what the slavers called me when I ran at them, and they made it my nickname."

"What was it?" Ahsoka asks.

Tandin sighs.

"They called me 'Ho Lee Schitt."

John cracks up.

Mina rolls her eyes. "Just be careful, all of you. We have no idea how the people will- Steela, pull your hood up!" she whispers, running forward to fix it.

I fix my gigantic sunglasses. "They're going to be coming off any time now."

"Save it for the big moment," Mina replies. "Remember, after you get the people's attention, you have to give us to the count of five to start broadcasting the transmission across Onderon."

"Five seconds. Got it. And what is it again that we're using for the distraction?"

Saw smiles devilishly, and holds up a firecracker.

"Oh my Force."

"Ready to wow a city?" Ahsoka asks.

"Come on."

Ahsoka and I climb a nearby building's fire escape up to the roof and walk over to the edge. Below us, people go about their shopping in Malagan Market. Merchants are selling their goods, parents are trying to watch their kids while haggling with the merchants, kids are ignoring their parents, and a young couple is leaning against a market stall attempting to swallow each other's faces. In short, a typical market scene.

The poor, unsuspecting people are about to get the shock of their lives.

Saw and Lux appears on the rooftop next to me. Saw digs a lighter out of his pocket, but for some reason the firecracker won't light.

Lux sticks his hands into his pockets in frustration, and then seemingly has a revelation.

First he turns himself to block Ahsoka's view, but not mine.

Then he hands Saw the firecracker, while he pulls a _death stick_ out of his pocket and lights up.

"Is that a-?" Ahsoka stammers.

"Lux is on death sticks?"

But it turns out our fears are unfounded. Lux simply uses the death stick as a torch to light the firecracker, then drops the little stick and stomps out the flame.

Ahsoka starts to breathe a sigh of relief that Lux isn't using death sticks, but it's cut short when a certain idiot known as "Saw" lobs the firecracker straight at us.

Ahsoka and I jump out of the way, and the firecracker goes off on the roof.

There's a boom, and then silence falls.

One… _Saw, I will yell at you for being an idiot later._ Two… _But I am not about to blow my second big moment in the sun._ Three…Four…Five.

I step up to the edge of the building.

"People of Onderon!"

The people turn to face me, more or less.

"People of Onderon," I repeat. "It's true, what the Republic Senate says. King Dendup has betrayed us, just as King Rash did. He has stripped you of the rights we fought for, only to inflate his own power. But more than you can realize, he has _lied_ to you."

I pull the hood down, and take the giant sunglasses off my face.

The young couple stops mouth-mashing and instead decides to scream.

Some lady trying to buy jogans drops everything in her arms.

And a boy who can't be any more than five years old says "Mommy, didn't we just go to her funeral?"

 _So true, little boy. So very true._

"My name is Steela Gerrera," I announce. "And I am _not_ dead."

 **THIRD PERSON**

News travels quickly on Onderon. One half of the teenage couple immediately whipped out her phone and posted a video of Steela's speech to social media. She knew she was going to be HoloNet famous.

Almost simultaneously, Sierra posted the Oswald Ruby film to the HoloNet.

In the six minutes it managed to stay up before Dendup's administration took it down, the video had one million views.

But even though Dendup could take down a video, he couldn't take down word of mouth.

"Did you hear what happened in the marketplace?"

"Steela Gerrera is alive!"

"Did you see the video on the HoloNet? Dendup pushed her off the cliff! In cold blood, just pushed her just like that."

"The man who recorded that film is dead. Dendup's goons killed him."

"And that's not it! Senator Mina Bonteri is alive, too. She and her whole family were victims of the same thing Gerrera was."

The citizen who heard that took a deep breath. "Force help Dendup when BonScary gets ahold of him."

"Isn't that right? She loves children. But Dendup's really going to get it if General Tandin is taking care of business."

"Why General Tandin?"

"He gave his kidney to the Gerrera girl! Well, Dendup would have forced him to do it anyway, but he still gave it. And she says he checked on her every day, and took care of her."

"General Tandin values people," someone else said. "He loves everyone."

"But he's too weak!"

"When he was a young militiaman, his enemies called him 'Ho Lee Schitt'. He stands up for what he believes in."

A former rebel named Talia, called Tally is talking on the phone with her friend.

"I have no idea what's going on. People are saying that Steela's still alive. But that's impossible!"

Her phone made the signal for an incoming call, and she looked down at Caller ID.

"I'll call you right back. It's Hero, maybe she knows something." She selected Hero's line. "Hero? What's going on?"

 _"Sorry, Talia…this isn't Hero."_

Tally collapses against a wall. "Oh my God."

 _"Tally, don't freak out. You have to stay calm."_ Steela's voice orders.

"Oh my God! How is this even possible?"

 _"Take a deep breath and calm down. I'll explain everything later. Listen, I need you to alert the rest of our brothers and sisters and tell them to gather the people in Yolahn Square."_

"What? I don't understand."

 _"It'll make sense soon, Tally. But you need to do it, and you need to do it now."_

…

And then someone, finally, says what the entire planet had known for months.

"I think we made a mistake."

 **(A/N: On a scale of one to ten, how dead is Dendup now that the will of the people seems to be going against him? As you can probably see, this story is winding up. There will be two more chapters coming, hopefully on schedule.**

 **Also: would anyone be interested in beta reading an original, post-apocalyptic short story of mine? I'm writing it for a youth organization, and I would need it done by July 7. If you're interested, just PM me. Thank you.**

 **Thank you starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, and Kasai1214 for your reviews! And while we're on the topic, please drop a review on your way out. Until next time!)**


	11. While Others Followed Orders

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: WHILE OTHERS FOLLOWED ORDERS**

 **JOHN**

Steela's said it's time. It's time to take Onderon back from that traitor Dendup.

"Do we get to come along?" I said sarcastically.

"We can't do this without you guys, Dad." Lux says.

I snort. "Hasn't stopped you before."

"When?"

"Let's start with that time you tried to drive the car by yourself on your learner's permit." Sierra pipes up. "And then we can go to your stunt on Mandalore, and Carlaac, and cap it all off with your Ferris Bueller stunt on Coruscant."

Lux rolls his eyes.

"Lux tried to drive alone on a learner's permit?" Saw asks.

"I really needed something and Mom and Dad weren't home!" Lux protests.

The emergency item in question was a tub of ice cream, but I don't bring that up.

"And," Lux continues. "That pales in comparison to when Sierra jumped down the staircase because her friend told her she could fly."

That incident required a visit to the emergency room…

"Or when she ate roses because she thought she would turn into a fairy."

That one only merited a terrified call from Mina to the pediatrician's, wailing "Are roses poisonous?" into the phone while clutching Sierra.

Sierra opens her mouth for a retort just as Mina snaps "Stop it, you two!"

My kids stop it, and Tandin leads us into the back of the palace.

…

"Clear the way! That's an order!" Tandin bellows in his "Ho Lee Schitt" voice when soldiers and militiamen enter the hallways.

When a just man is delivering them, I love orders. All the subordinates have to follow them.

The militiamen all fall back, but there's one last soldier left. One wearing a uniform similar to mine. _Meaning Tandin's orders might as well be the horoscope._

"S-Stay back!" the last soldier orders in a very, very familiar voice, his hand on his holster.

I blink. _"Cooper?"_

"John, stay back!"

I look over my shoulder.

"Ahsoka, come here." I beckon, placing a guiding hand between her shoulder blades. She looks a little confused.

"Is this..?"

"No, sweetheart. This is Cooper."

Cooper's hand falls away from his holster.

"Sweetheart?" he echoes.

I nod, pushing Ahsoka a step closer.

Cooper points. "Is that really her?"

"She looks a lot different healthy, doesn't she?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Ahsoka asks Cooper.

Cooper looks her up and down: her skin no longer pale, her cheeks full, the absence of goosebumps of her arms and legs, and her gaze clear and alert.

"John?" Ahsoka repeats.

"Ahsoka, meet Matthew Cooper. He watched you while I was gone."

Keyword being "watched".

Cooper raises a hand, palm facing toward us. "I didn't mean to drop you. It was an accident."

She fixes her eyes on him, and blinks.

"Are you the one who let Tor into the cell?"

Cooper swallows hard and looks at his boots.

"Is this the same incident you told me about earlier?" I ask Ahsoka.

She shakes her head. _If not that time, it must be the time Tor struck her. And Cooper regrets it. Big time._

"Cooper, we both know you messed up." I reason. "You made a mistake not sticking up to Tor, but you have a chance to make up for it. King Dendup is hurting people, just like Tor hurt Ahsoka."

"Who?" Cooper asks.

I point to Agnes and Steela.

"Cooper, Dendup is no better than Tor. You can either do what you did before, or you can do the right thing."

Cooper doesn't move.

 _"Please."_ Ahsoka begs.

Cooper steps aside. But as Ahsoka walks by, he catches her arm.

"I'm sorry,"

Their eyes meet, and I can tell he's still hearing her cries over the sounds of Tor's anger.

And then finally, Ahsoka says; "I forgive you."

 **SAW**

Actually getting into King Dendup's throne room is easy. None of the militiamen bat an eye when Tandin tells them to beat it. The only one who gives us any trouble is someone named "Gary Stu," but Agnes gets rid of him by saying there's a supermodel in imminent peril on the other side of the planet.

After Gary Stu runs off to the phantom supermodel's aid, John opens the throne room doors.

And Mina goes flying through them.

 _"So you thought you can take my children away from me, Dendup? You thought you would be the quote 'hero' who reunited the very family you broke apart? Well, you're not. You're a monster, and I will rip you apart limb from limb!"_

John darts forward, picks Mina up around the waist, and walks out the door.

"Mina, count to ten."

"Put me down, John!"

I shut the door behind them, effectively drowning out Mina's fury.

Dendup sits straight up in his throne. "General Tandin. I should have expected such treachery from you."

He shifts his gaze over to the rest of us, and settles on Steela. "Miss Gerrera! What a time for you to return home. Why don't I have General Tandin escort you to your room?"

I grab Steela, and can see Lux push Sierra behind him.

"Maybe when hell freezes over." Steela snaps.

"It's over, Dendup." Lux announces. "The people know about the Lazarus Project and everything you've done to them. They've hit their breaking point."

"It's like I said once, boy. The will of the people is theirs. It's the job of the king to embrace, bend, or break it. Emphasis on break."

"And you are also no longer the king." Hero says.

Dendup chuckles. "If not me, then who is? Him?" He nods over to a painting of Sanjay Rash in the lineup of Onderon's former monarchs.

"Tandin."

Dendup actually starts laughing.

"Tandin a king?" he manages. "You must be joking, girl! Why would you put Tandin on the throne?

"Because the people need a king who will lead them." Tandin bellows, pushing to the front. "They need a king who will tell them the truth. Someone who will guide them when they're lost. Someone to look up to. Someone who will give of himself for their sake. They need someone who puts them before himself, unlike you. I will take care of those people with all the tenderness that I took care of Steela while you left her to rot!"

The power of his voice rings throughout the throne room, and I realize I've heard it before.

When we were on opposite sides and Tandin was interrogating me, I heard it.

"I am free, while you have chosen to become a terrorist!"

It was the voice I'm hearing now, just quieter and restrained.

But I've heard it in its full fury only once, at King Dendup's would-be execution. As Tandin led the army out of the palace to stop King Rash, the city was silenced by one word.

 _"STOP! The only snake I see, sire, is you!"_

That was the voice of a king.

It should have been our first clue that _he_ was the right choice.

"The people are closing in, Dendup." Tandin orders, advancing. "The rest of the rebels are gathering them to end your reign. Either we can let the beaten-down, tired people of Onderon as well as Mrs. Bonteri into this throne room and let them get the justice they deserve…"

Dendup swallows hard.

"Or you can abdicate. Immediately. If you do so, we will transport you off-world, and you may yet live to see the morning. What's it going to be, Dendup?"

Dendup fixes him with a look.

"Go look out your window," Tandin suggests.

Dendup does, and sees the booing, angry mob standing in Yolahn square.

But that's not all. In a stroke of genius on Tally's part, they've positioned all the people wearing a red shirt so that the shirts spell out YOU SUCK.

He turns back to us.

And decides.

 **THIRD PERSON**

Ramsis Dendup is put on a prison transport. As it's flown over Yolahn Square, he tries his best to ignore boos and rotten fruit thrown at him from his (former) subjects.

One of his traveling mates is Wilhuff Tarkin, known to many only as "The Big Kahuna." When the ship enters space, Tarkin roars at Dendup.

"You said she was too sedated to remember anything!"

Dendup ignores the Big Kahuna.

His other shipmate is Miraj Scintel, who doesn't do much except glower at anything and everything.

Their ship touches down, and the ramp opens. All Dendup can see is a fortress, and unending yellow lava fields.

"No," Tarkin breathes. _"NO! Not again!"_

A clone walks up to him.

"Welcome to the Citadel. I have a message from Former Senator Mina Bonteri," he announces. "She would like you to know that since the Republic takeover of this facility, it has no longer become specialized in holding Jedi. Rather, it specializes in the internment of Mary Sues."

Dendup doesn't even realize that he's tried to jump in the lava pit until the clones catch him before his feet leave the ledge.

….

"General Tandin, do you solemnly swear to serve the people of Onderon compassionately and completely, for as long as you shall live?"

"I do," Tandin says from his kneeling position.

The holy man lowers the golden laurels onto Tandin's brow with a practiced hand, having crowned now three kings in his time.

"Please rise."

Tandin does, and he turns to face the crowd.

The holy man clears his throat. "I present to you, King Tandin of Onderon!"

And the crowd goes wild.

The common people cheer for the man whose loyalty to Onderon has been so tested, but shown to be pure and good. Some of the loudest cheers emanate from the front, from the pale figures of Sierra and Lux Bonteri.

Lux gives his sister a sideways look. "So, how do you feel about me being the Senator for Onderon…again?" he gloats.

Sierra glowers at him for a half second, and then tosses her arms around his waist.

"I'm really happy for you, bro."

Lux hugs her back. "I hoped so."

A laugh comes from the front of the stage, and brother and sister turn to see its source.

It's Steela, wearing the white dress that Head Advisors wear to be appointed. By her side is Saw, dressed in the uniform of the Captain of the Guard.

"We should have taken a blackmail picture for when they hated each other again." Saw jokes.

"We really should have."

And for a minute, Steela directed her gaze to the blue sky above her head.

 _Thanks,_ she thought to whatever's out there. _Thank you for not letting me die on the cliff._

 _Because before, I wasn't too sure that I wanted to live. But now I am._

Tandin takes the microphone and begins to speak of duty, of commitment, and of goodness and bravery. Most people in the crowd don't know where he's going with this, but as he speaks each word, John Bonteri sits up a little straighter.

"We are here today," King Tandin says, "Because of one man's bravery. This man was willing to defy anything and everything in order to follow his conscience. He is the reason that the seats up on this stage are as full as they are."

Ahsoka meets John's eyes and winks at him.

"And what he stands for is why we are all here today."

Saw approaches Tandin holding a blue pillow, and Tandin steps back from the podium.

"John Bonteri, please step forward. It is my pleasure to award you the Medal of Honor."

As Cooper watches the coronation on TV, he slides a little further into his chair.

As King Tandin affixes the medal to John's lapel, Hero whispers "You know, there's another reason this happened, but he can't say it because he'd start a lot of booing." Into Ahsoka's ear.

"What?"

Hero looks at Hutch. "We're here because the University of Onderon lost the playoffs, and Hutch went bonkers."

"I still maintain it was a bad call." Hutch grumbles. Hero kicks him.

Tandin, for his part, pretends not to notice the teenagers and continues with his speech.

"I am pleased to present to you Head Advisor Steela Gerrera…"

Steela stands up, and the crowd goes wild.

"Captain of the Guard Saw Gerrera…"

The applause for Saw is just as raucous, bringing a smile to his face.

"And Senator Lux Bonteri!" Tandin announces over the din.

When Lux stands up, someone in the crowd yells "The leaders of the rebellion will take care of us!"

"It'll be even better than having Mina BonScary in office!"

Mina's eyes widen. "What did they just call me?"

John sighs. "I'm actually a bit surprised you haven't caught it before now, Mina. They've been calling you that for years."

Mina snorts. "To be honest, I am rather terrifying."

Ahsoka smiles. "Ain't that the truth?"

"Where are you going after this?" Lux asks, squeezing her hand.

Ahsoka shrugs. "I'm not really sure."

Lux looks at her. "What do you mean, you're not really sure?"

"Lux, the Jedi Order was my life. I never thought about what I would want in life besides it." She shrugs. "I guess I can crash on Padme's couch for a while or something."

"Uh, no. You're moving in with us." Hero says, pointing to Steela and herself.

"What?"

Steela butts in. "Because Lux and Sierra are moving back in with their parents, they don't need their apartment. So, we now have enough room for three people. And you're moving in with us!"

"Why would you do that for me?"

Steela grabs her hand. "Because you're our best friend."

"We're going to have pillow fights and eat cookie dough, do each other's makeup, and watch _Mean Girls_ until 2AM!" Hero cheers.

"Why?"

"Because we are a houseful of teenage girls." Hero replies.

"I'll make sure we have extra tissues for when we watch _The Fault In Our Star Systems."_ Steela shrugged. "So, what do you say?"

"But we already put her name on the lease!" Hero protests.

Ahsoka rolls her eyes. "Well, since it's already locked in and I want to watch _The Fault in Our Star Systems,_ sure. Why not?"

Hero and Steela cheer, and hug their friend.

Ahsoka smiles, and finally feels a tinge of _something_ in her heart, something she hasn't felt since before the trial.

She closes her eyes.

 _Thank you, God, for friendship._

 **(A/N: This is not the end, even though it might look like it. There is still one more chapter to this story!**

 **I know some of you were raring for Dendup to die, but honestly I think getting sent to the Citadel with a bunch of Mary Sues is worse. But everyone still got a BonScary moment!**


	12. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Clone Wars. I also don't own Agnes. She belongs to Kasai1214.**

 **EPILOGUE**

Years pass.

Three girls: a former Jedi, the Head Advisor of Onderon, and a culinary student move into an apartment.

A brother and sister move back in with their parents, and deal with month-long groundings for sneaking out of the house.

The University of Onderon loses game after game after game.

And finally, Lux screws up the courage to ask Ahsoka the most important question he could.

Life is beautiful, until it all goes to hell.

It starts as a series of terrified knocks on Lux and Ahsoka's door.

BANG!

The couple sits up in bed.

"Lux, did you hear something?"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Yeah,"

 _"Commander Tano, please open up!"_ a familiar voice begs on the other side of the door. _"Please, Ahsoka!"_

Ahsoka unlocks the door and pulls it open. Standing in the hallway is clone Captain Rex, clad in civilian clothing and brown eyes terrified.

"Rex? What's wrong?" Ahsoka asks, motioning for him to come inside. "Is everything okay back there?"

"You have to get out of here. They're coming for you!" Rex cries.

"Coming for me? Who?" she demands.

"Clones! My ex-brothers." Tears spring in Rex's eyes. "We got an order that the Jedi had turned on the Republic. Order 66. We were ordered to nexecute them. But I couldn't do it, I couldn't do it…I ran. I deserted. I just couldn't kill those-,"

Ahsoka lunges forward and grabs the front of his shirt. "Is Anakin okay?" she demands.

Rex sobs. "I'm sorry. He-he's gone."

Ahsoka takes a step back. "No."

"You have to run." Rex sobs. "You're like a little sister to me. You were a little sister to all of us. But they're going to hunt you down." He sobs. "You and your husband…everyone. They want all of you."

Lux wraps his arms around Ahsoka and she clutches him like a teddy bear. "It's okay, baby. I'm here."

"No! Not Anakin," Ahsoka sobs. "Anakin's strong! He could take on anybody!"

"There was a Sith Lord," Rex cried. "Named Darth Vader. He…he destroyed General Skywalker."

Lux looks him in the eye. As much as he longs to comfort his wife, the number one thing they need right now is information. "Rex, what is going on?"

"The Republic's been overthrown. In its place is an Empire," Rex sobs. "All the Jedi are gone. All my brothers are murderers. You're the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker. They want you gone. And the rebels are too big a risk for them to leave alive. You have to run."

He pushes them forward.

"Now."

….

Onderon will not take the new Empire sitting down. They have weathered Beast Riders, Mandalorians, and two bad kings. They will not let Chancellor, excuse me, _Emperor_ Palpatine stuff this crock of garbage down their throats.

And every system knows, that the people of Onderon do not take garbage well.

The people order King Tandin and the rebel leaders to run for their lives until safety is secured for them. While they sneak out of the city, Steela points to Tally, the young woman who organized the people and her comrades into the square.

"Tally's in charge!" she ordered, her last command to so many of the rebels who would go down fighting the Empire, Tally included.

When they get to their first hiding place, the Nest, they go around making preparations for their stay. Lux does a head count.

Ahsoka, check. His parents, check. Sierra, check. Saw, check. Hutch and Hero, check. King Tandin, check. Steela…

His heart rate speeds up.

 _Where is Steela?_

But his answer comes all too soon, in the form of an agonized scream.

Saw drops everything. "Steela!" he shouts, running off toward his sister.

"Steela?" Tandin roars in his King voice, before finding her doubled over and shaking. He's seen this reaction before; from Ahsoka, after sensing all those lost Jedi.

But why, _why_ is Steela doing this? She's not force-sensitive.

"Steela, what is it?" he queries in a much gentler voice, coming to her side.

"T-this was it." She chokes.

"Sis?" Saw asks.

"T-This is what it was meant for," She clarifies. "The Lazarus Project. This is what we were supposed to smooth over."

Saw's mouth could catch flies.

"I can't believe we didn't see it." Steela continues. "All the Lazaruses. Tarkin said we'd all been killed by a Jedi."

Miraj, "choked" by Anakin Skywalker.

Agnes, "Killed" by a mis-swing of a lightsaber.

The entire Bonteri family, "murdered" in their sleep by a Jedi.

And Steela, accidentally dropped off a cliff by Ahsoka.

"Oh my God!"

Tandin can't stomach the possibility that maybe, just maybe, their mistake in not seeing that similarity in the victims could have cost all those lives.

Instead, he does what he can. He takes Saw in one arm and Steela in another, and comforts them as if they were his own children.

…..

Across a galaxy, Ahsoka weeps bitterly and Lux doesn't know what to do.

Steela sobs, clutching her king. Saw sits numbly in Tandin's other arm, unable to process the new information. And a tear runs down Tandin's cheek, out of sorrow for the people he was forced to leave behind.

Agnes Syndulla knows the same things the others do. It's only that she hears the footsteps of stormtroopers on her doorstep before she can make her escape.

 _"Agnes Syndulla, open the door in the name of the Galactic Empire!"_

Agnes turns and starts to walk, very slowly, toward the door.

 _"I'm coming."_

She undoes the locks, purposely fumbling with the deadbolt.

 _"Open up now, or we'll kick it down!"_

As slowly as possible, she turns the knob and opens the door.

 _"Yes?"_

The blaster bolt that flies through the open door doesn't surprise her in the least.

She knew the troopers were going to shoot her. It was only a matter of how long she could stall before they did it.

She doesn't die lying down. As her vision fades from her eyes, Agnes sees one last, triumphant scene play in her mind.

It's the glorious sight of her uncle's ship, the _Ghost,_ taking off into the sky with her cousin Hera at the controls.

As her last act, Agnes clenches her hand into a fist, and holds it over her heart.

She's heard stories of a statue with a fist rising out of her heart. A statue who every night wore chains, and every night broke them.

The galaxy will break its chains. This she knows.

Because if Agnes is the heart of that statue, Hera is the fist.

 **A/N: Yes, this** _ **is**_ **the end of the story.**

 **The statue Agnes references in the epilogue is Our Lady of Chains, from "The Secret Life of Bees". That story belongs to Sue Monk Kidd.**

 **I have a lot of "Thank You"s to hand out since this story is now complete.**

 **Thank you to starwarshobbitfics, for discussions on this AU and help with my writing skills.**

 **Thank you to StarwarsRulz, for being such a faithful and insightful reviewer.**

 **Thank you to Kasai1214, for letting me borrow Agnes. I don't know where this story would be without her. (Also, I'm sorry if I broke anyone's feels by killing her :D.)**

 **Thank you to Laugh Until You Obitine, for being the first reviewer.**

 **Thank you to 082 Martian Scout, for a lengthy discussion on Lux's character development.**

 **And lastly, thank you to you, the person reading this! Without you, the reader, what's even the point of putting this story up?**

 **Thank you all for your readership and your appreciation of this AU.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister.**


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